Bishounen : Reflection of a Dream
by SonTsunami06
Summary: Based on Songwinds Bishiworld, a new trainer comes to the Bishi-world, jaded and disbelieving. Will she connect with her new found friends and bishounen, or will this new adventure be too much? Please read and review to find out! UPDATED CH 18
1. Chapter 1

Harsh breathing and frantic footsteps filled the pre-dawn air. Out of the tree line burst a pink haired woman clutching a bundle to her chest. Her green eyes were wide with panic, and her skin and clothes were torn and covered in mud and blood.

She knelt on the forest floor for a brief moment, pulling back the blanket from the bundle in her arms. The face of a sleeping Chibi Iruka was revealed, and she kissed his forehead while bitter hot tears carved tracks in the dirt on her cheeks.

Still silently tearing up, she placed the child on the forest floor, safely nestled into the protective arms of a few exposed roots, and held her hands together to form a seal. Instantly, her child was gone, hidden behind an illusion.

She stared at the spot for a few more seconds, in a silent farewell, before standing and turning to face her hunters.

She could hear them out there, drawing closer to her child hiding spot. Her face set in a grim line of concentration, she dashed forward, back into the woods. If she couldn't shake them, she'd take them down with her.

For her son, and for Konoha, she could not, would not, fail.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

The first rays of light cut through the dark, chasing away the shadows and fear that morning, landing on the sleeping Chibi's face. Still he slept, blissfully unaware of what had taken place only moments ago.

Yards away, just inside the tree line, his mother's captors laughed, walking away to their campsite to bunk down for the day.

The early morning light reflected in the woman's wide, glassy green eyes, but she paid it no heed. Her face was frozen in a death mask, the determination of her final moments of life still present.

As the birds sang to the morning, and his mother lay silent, the Chibi still slept, and would sleep for a few more hours.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

A.N. Well, this is the first chapter. The new trainer will make her appearance in the next chapter. If anyone is interested in making an appearance as a trainer, please email me at sontsunami (take out all the spaces) with your trainer bio (name, age, appearance, brief idea of personality and how long you've been in the bishi-world) and a list of your bishounen/bishoujo (please kept it reasonable, nobody needs 100 bishounen, that's too many mouths to feed!) and a bit of an idea how they interact with you, that'd be awesome!

Ja ne!

Tsunami


	2. Chapter 2

"Whoever invented work should die…" I grumbled, tossing my helmet on the couch and flopping face first onto the floor.

Work, as usual, was an experience best left at the door, and I took it out on my bike on the way home. 90 MPH on a motorcycle is fun, I'll admit, but recklessly idiotic, and I do _not_ recommend anyone else follow my lead.

After a moment of lying on the floor and letting my spine pop, I rolled onto my stomach and pulled my laptop close, with the intent of checking my email. However, before I could even so much as load up the internet browser, my phone buzzed, making me jump half a foot into the air.

"Hello?" I answered, cradling the phone against my shoulder as I loaded up the main page for AOL.

"Hey! Danielle! You'll never believe what happened!!" My best friend screamed into my ear as a greeting.

"Huh? What? Sorry, I have this funny ringing in my ear all of the sudden." I replied, grinning at the phone.

"I'm sorry… but I've got my M class! Now we can ride together!! I was… well, kinda hoping you could take me over to the dealership before they close so I can pick up my bike?" The last part of that sentence was said all in one breath, so quickly it took me a few moments to work out what she was asking.

Once I understood what it was exactly that she said, I sighed. I knew that tone of voice like I knew the back of my hand. Looking at my watch, which said 5:44 in neon green, I had to ask, even though I knew the answer. "Let me guess. You got a bike from the Kawasaki dealer 20 minutes from here… and they close in 15 minutes. Am I right?"

"How'd you guess?" She asked sheepishly, and I could just see her rubbing the back of her head on the other side of the line.

Rolling my eyes skyward, I clicked 'transfer to mobile device' in the AOL screen as I climbed to my feet. If I couldn't check my email here, maybe I could do it while I was waiting for Jamie at the dealership. "I'm on my way now. Have your gear on and helmet in hand by the time my front tire hits your driveway, or I'm coming back home."

"Roger that!" The phone clicked, and I could only shake my head in disbelief as I pocketed the phone, gathered my gear, and walked out the door.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

Coming to a stop light a few blocks from my friends house, I could feel my pocket buzz lightly.

"Oh goody." I muttered into my helmet as I revved the engine. I forgot to lock the phone so I couldn't press any keys. That buzz, I was pretty sure, meant that I have just opened up the internet browser. Maybe I was lucky and it meant that I just had a text message, but I didn't think so. I tend to do that a lot, anyway. Someone emails me a link to a story or an animation of some sort, and because I don't lock my phone, I wind up clicking on it by mistake when I shove the phone in my pocket.

Oh well. The light changed green while I was thinking, and I wasn't about to wait and see if a car would hit me. I'll check the phone when I get to the dealers. Hopefully Jamie will be waiting for me, or there'll be no way we'll make it in time.

As I pulled into her driveway a few moments later, my pocket buzzed again. Once my feet were on the ground, I dug into my pocket, planning on just shutting the phone off completely. However, even after holding down the power button for a few seconds, the phone continued to buzz in my hand.

I looked up, frustrated, with the expectation of seeings Jamie standing to my left so that I could complain to her. However, the sight that greeted my eyes was not what I had expected in the least. Jamie was frozen in mid-step, halfway down the driveway. It was as if someone had pressed pause on her, one foot raised off the ground, her eyes half closed in a blink.

I went to dismount and go to her side, but I was just as stuck as she was, unable to so much as twitch. By now, I was in a panic, as not only could I not move, my pocket was buzzing like crazy, and glowing to boot. Even staring straight ahead, which a full face helmet on, the glow was as plain as day.

"Oh god, I'm going to die, and it's all Motorola's fault." I was about to die, and the last thing I could do was make a smart assed thought.

And then everything went black.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

A.N. First of all, I want to thank PeaceLoveOcelot for my first review on the story. I'm sorry if the first chapter seems really dark, but I _swear_ that not only will it get better, but the people that did it will pay in the end. As for shortness, I promise this is the last short chapter that'll show up. The rest of them so far have been rounding off at the least at 5 pages or so, as opposed to the 2 pages that this is.

Also, if anyone else wants to become a trainer, just email me at sontsunami (minus the spaces) and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. For the most part, I know at least a bit about just about every anime or manga released in the US, as well as some specific still to Japan. If there's a character you want that you aren't sure of, ask and I'll let you know!

Ja ne!

Son Tsunami


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, girlie…wake up. C'mon, it's not naptime!"

I groaned, squinting my eyes shut and rolling over onto my stomach. One hand rose into the air, trying to fend off whoever it was that intent on ruining my sleep. Soon, I could feel the owner of the voice poking my side in a manner very reminiscent of my mother, and it was all I could do to not start whining like a 12 year old.

"Go'way… I'm sleeping." I grunted, pushing the offending hand away with an overly dramatic burst of effort, my entire body rolling over to follow the hand's motion.

"Sorry, but you have to get up. No matter _where _you are, laying in the middle of the road isn't a good ide-TAMAHOME! _Don't_touch that! That motorcycle isn't yours, and you don't even know what it is for goodness sake!" The voice, a girl's voice, sounded exasperated as she berated this 'Tamahome'.

For a split second, all I could think about was this shrill ringing in my ears from the girl's screech… then it hit me. Motorcycle? My baby! I rolled onto my feet so fast I slammed my forehead right into the girl's chin.

"Owwww… sonuva…" I trailed off, still gripping my head in pain. The girl that I hit had rolled back into someone's arms, one hand over her chin, the other gripping the chin strap to my helmet. She must have removed that before I woke up.

"Are you ok 'Lia?" The boy who caught her asked worriedly, one hand hovering over the girl's face as if he wasn't sure what to do with it. She just nodded, shooing him away as she righted herself and rubbed her chin tenderly.

"I'm fine, Tama. I told you to leave her bike alone, didn't I?" She joked, turning to smile at me as the boy named Tamahome spluttered something about how it wasn't his fault she was so accident prone.

"But I'm su~ure I could get a couple of pieces of gold for it at least! It's a really unusual color you know. There are a lot of people that'd pay big for that." Tamahome whined, eyeing my Kawasaki Ninja with a calculating glance.

"Tama, there is _nobody_ in the Bishi World who would pay gold for motorcycle casings. Are you crazy?" Lia exploded, rounding on her friend with a frightening look that made the boy shrink away in fear.

"Fairings." I coughed, rubbing the back of my head as I took in the scene before me.

"scuse me?" Lia asked, confused, as she turned back to me.

"Fairings. They're called fairings on a sport bike…not casings. Sorry. And just one piece on that bike can fetch at least a couple hundred bucks in good condition on ebay. They're expensive little suckers…. But if you so much as _think_ of dismantling my baby, I'll hurt you. A lot." I explained, tacking on the threat as Tamahome inched towards my bike again.

"I'm sorry… my Tamahome doesn't mean any harm. It's just in his nature, ya know? I'm Lailia, by the way, but you can just call me 'Lia." The girl smiled sheepishly through her introduction, one hand shoved into her long brown hair in a nervous gesture, the other held out for me to shake.

I took the proffered hand and shook, looking at her dead on for the first time. She was a fair skinned girl, with long brown hair and bright green eyes. She was a tiny one, maybe 5 foot even, if that, and she looked even smaller when standing next to Tamahome, who towered over her with no problem. Covering her small frame were a blue hoodie and white capris, with a belt slung cockeyed over her hips that was decorated with small silver and black balls.

I felt like night and day standing next to this girl, which struck me as funny, as it was rare that I ever cared. But standing next to her, I stood a good head taller, with tanned skin from being out in the sun all day. My shoulder length blond hair was smashed into a low ponytail, the bangs plastered to my forehead in a cruel form of helmet hair and my blue eyes were almost assuredly bloodshot from work all day. Where she was wearing bright, sunny colors, I was dressed in flat soled racing boots, faded blue jeans, and a black and blue racing jacket.

"Name's Danielle, but I go by Danny." I replied after the pause, and dropped my hand back down to my side, looking around in curiosity.

"Say, how'd you get your bike here anyway…just out of curiosity." Lia asked as I picked up my bike and turned the ignition switch off. I could only shrug in reply, unsure.

"Dunno… I don't even know where here is." I said slowly, dusting off the control panel carefully with my sleeve.

"You know that link you clicked on in the email? The one that took you to the bishi site?" She grinned as she spoke, but her grin turned to a frown when I shook my head.

"I was on my bike when this weirdness happened. I know I got on the internet because my phone freaked out, but I dunno what I clicked on. Hang on a second." I dug my phone out of my pocket, flipped the screen up, and stared at the website still loaded on the browser. The website was too big and graphic intensive to show up properly on the tiny screen, and all that was visible was a block of text reading 'make me a trainer!' that was highlighted in yellow to show that it had been clicked on.

"That's a way cool phone! A sidekick? I didn't know Motorola made them. But it shows you how long I've been here, the sidekick was _just _being released to the public when I left home." Lia laughed, standing up straight and stretching her neck out to peer at the small phone in my hands.

"They just started. This one is their first model." I said as way of explanation, handing her the phone carefully.

She grinned, playing with the controls as soon as her fingertips came in contact with them. "Well, looks like you clicked the link on accident, but it would have happened eventually anyway, so oh well." She said absentmindedly, having just discovered the Sudoku and PacMan games on the phone.

"So what is this place then? Better yet, _where_ is this place?" I asked, looking around once again. We were sitting on the edge of a paved road, rolling grassy hills extending for miles to the east and south, fluffy white clouds and a bright blue sky framing the prairie-esque scene. To the north, I could just faintly make out the hazy image of a city, and to the west, a forest extended beyond my line of site, becoming a grey-blue smudge at the edge of the horizon.

"This is the bishi-world. It's a place where trainers, like you and me, can capture and co-exist with bishounen and bishoujo from our favorite anime, manga, books and games. Like Tamahome here." She explained, handing me back my phone and draping an arm over Tamahome's neck. Seeing as she had to stand up on her tiptoes and he still hunched over to accommodate her, it was a funny site indeed.

"Wait a second… Suzaku no shichi-tenshi Tamahome." I asked incredulously, doing a double take once Lia's words sank in properly. "Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi?" I squinted, staring at the boy who, admittedly, looked exactly like the anime character. I had assumed that the boy was just dressing up in costume.

Lia nodded, though, her wavy hair flying everywhere, and catching Tamahome in the face. He spit out a mouthful of the stuff as she clung to his arm and smiled brightly.

"Are you kidding me?" I muttered, backing away slowly, my hand coming in contact with the side of my bike as I kept my gaze locked on the pair in front of me. "This is a dream… no way this is real… you're one crazy wacked out nut job, you know that?"

"Tamahome!" Lia shouted, but by the time that they had reacted, I was rocketing away from them, picking up speed as fast as I could.

After about 10 minutes of zooming along at a steady pace, I realized why that girl had seemed so shocked to see a bike in this place. These roads were _horrible_. Well, okay, not horrible. For walking paths and maybe four wheeled vehicles it'd be okay, but they were bumpy and a bit difficult to navigate. Plus, with all the wide open space and the wind whipping through the area, it was like being sucked into a semi-truck on the highway.

"Crap, I forgot my helmet back there." I groaned, hunkering down behind the windshield for what little protection it offered.

Fairly soon, I came upon the city I had seen earlier, the buildings growing and taking shape, multiplying and spanning out over at least a good two mile radius.

As I coasted up to the gate, applying the brakes to slow even more, a guard stepped away from the gate and moved up to my side.

"Can I see your I.D. ma'am?" He asked, eying my bike as I dug into my jeans.

"Sure thing, Officer. Here you go." I smiled, handing him my license.

"Ma'am, I need to see a dex, not a card." He said apologetically, handing the plastic card back to me and waiting patiently, a knowing smile on his face.

"Huh? Dex?" I echoed, confusion etching itself across my face as I tried to figure out what he was asking.

"Yes ma'am. I take it you're new here?" He asked kindly, one handing coming to rest on the side of my bike.

"Yea, but, a license is a valid form of ID in all states." I argued, license still in hand as if he'd take it back and laugh the whole thing off as a joke.

"I'm very sorry ma'am, but I'm going to have to ask you to get off the bike. You'll need to go up to the orientation center first." He explained, taking my bike and wheeling it behind his post.

"You've got to be kidding, this isn't right! You can't just take my bike!" I was definitely confused, and a bit irate, by now. Was this whole town crazy?

"Rei, can you please escort this young lady to the orientation center?" The guard asked a girl who had been sitting just off to the side, watching the whole exchange in quiet amusement.

"Of course. Follow me please." The girl stood, and it was all I could do not to gawk. She was dressed in a traditional looking Shinto outfit, loose red pants and a white yukata. Her raven black hair fell loose down her back past her backside, but her violet eyes were what really made me jealous. No contacts had ever made my eyes look that realistically purple, they were gorgeous. She almost looked like Hino Rei, from Sailor Moon.

"Well? Come on." She called from ahead of me, waving a hand to motion me forward.

"This is just insane man." I groaned, lurching after her with a sigh.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

A.N.

Whew! Twice the length of the last two chapters! I'm working my way up in length.

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews and favs.

PeaceLoveOcelot – Thanks so much for another review! Sorry you were picturing a stick figure, I hope Danielle's description helps a little. No more little stick figures, they may get sucked into the engine! ^_^ As for catching bishi with her bike, she's gonna learn early on why a sport bike wasn't rated for off road travel. Although she may find a use for it yet… ^_^

Lady Demoonica Darkmoon – would it be too fannish to glomp you right now and squee? Thank you for the review, and the favorite and everything! Like I said to PLO, I hope that the description in this chapter helped clear up Danielle's appearance a little bit. ::glomp::

Ducky – I'm glad that the story makes you happy, although passing out may not be too healthy ^_~. I loved these kind of stories a lot, especially Songwind and LDD's stories. So I couldn't resist trying my hand at writing one myself.

Eternal Star – Thanks so much for the review! Sorry the opening seemed so sad, but it'll all get resolved, I swear!

As always, if anyone wants to create a trainer for this story, please don't hesitate to email me at sontsunami 06 aol .com (minus the spaces)

Ja ne!

Son Tsunami


	4. Chapter 4

NOTE - this has been revised for spelling and grammar. I guess I probably shouldn't be working on this at 1am. ; Thank you Kiki Hayashi for pointing out my mistakes, I hope I caught them all this time around! As for the squares, I don't see any odd breaks in the paragraphs or anything, I'm sorry. I tried deleting all the spaces and re-entering them. If it persists, please let me know!

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

Lia was sweating and breathing heavily by the time she and Tamahome reached the gates to the city. A guard stepped out to greet them once they reached the entrance, asking for identification.

In response, Lia pulled out her Dex, flipping it open and instructing it to identify her.

"Trainer 'Lia, age 17. 5 bishounen 2 bishoujo captured…" She flipped the dex shut to keep it from listing her every bishi, and put it away into her backpack when the guard nodded his approval.

"Say, do you know where the owner of that thing is?" Tamahome asked when he noticed the girl's bike by the guard station.

"Huh? Oh, the young lady that thought I was crazy?" He asked, turning to see what they were pointing at.

"That'd be her…" Tamahome muttered, 'Lia nodding her agreement.

"I had my Rei take her up to the orientation center. It's just up the road and to your left." He replied, pointing up the road and motioning them to go on.

The duo smiled, bowing in thanks to the guard before turning to walk up the road into the city.

"Oh! And if you do happen to see her, tell her she can come pick up her bike once she gets her gear!" He shouted to their retreating backs, and received a wave in response.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

1 Hour Earlier, With Danielle

"So you're Rei from Sailor Moon?" I asked the frustrated woman for the fourth time in as many minutes.

"Yes… for the last time, my name is Hino Rei, I am a Sailor Scout from the Crystal Tokyo Territory. Ask me again and you'll regret it… honestly…worse than any Usagi I've ever known…" She all but growled. There was a vein pulsing in her forehead and her fingers were twitching as if they wanted to choke something.

"Ok, sheeze. Can't blame me for being disbelieving…" I grumbled, following her inside a building labeled 'orientation center'.

"Oh, good afternoon Miss Rei. How is your trainer doing these days?" A lady behind the front desk asked kindly upon seeing us.

Rei smiled back, nodding to the lady in acknowledgement. "He's just fine Miss Jackie. And how are you today?"

The woman named Jackie just laughed, shaking her head and wiping tears from her eyes. "Always the polite one, you are. I wish my dear Wufei would take a page out of your book… too bad he doesn't listen to women… I should find a Noin or a Hilde to smack him around a little, what do you think?" This was all said with a perfectly sweet smile, as if the woman wasn't threatening inadvertent bodily harm to her friend.

"I think you should stop threatening me with those two and register the obviously new trainer waiting on you… onna." This was said with an underlying tone of impatience, as if this routine was a daily occurrence. The speaker was a young man with black hair slicked back into a ponytail, and sharp, calculatingly dark eyes that observed the entire exchange with an air of boredom.

"Oh hush, Fei. I'm getting to it." Jackie was still all smiles as she turned to me, "Hello dear, welcome to the orientation center. If I could just get some information to satisfy the system, Professor Kinnian is going to be starting the next orientation in about 10 minutes. She'll explain everything to you, get you geared up, and send you on your way as a bishi trainer!"

In my opinion, this woman was just a little _too_ perky, but I just nodded to show that I understood.

"Ok…name?" She asked, fingers poised over the keyboard.

"Danielle."

"Age?"

"23"

"Any medical problems?"

"No…"

"Ok then," Jackie mumbled, more to herself than to me it seemed, "You've been entered into the system. This is all basically administrative and will only be accessed in case of an emergency. Should you choose to leave the bishi world at any time, any information accrued while you were here will stay in our system, but it will be inaccessible from earth. Should you truly wish to leave, you would be unable to return, so think carefully before you make the decision. Consider it a last resort should all else fail. Ok?" The perky trainer informed me of all this in a way that said she had given the same speech to hundreds of other trainers before me, and she would give the same speech to hundreds after me, but once she finished she brightened almost instantly.

"Ok." I agreed, still not sure I bought this whole 'pokemon-esque other world' bit.

"Great!" There was the tooth aching sweetness that had briefly disappeared, "Rei, you're good to go! Tell Jimmy-kun I said hey! And Danielle, please follow Wufei, he'll show you where to go!" Rei bowed to Jackie, then left with a wave, while Wufei stood reluctantly, walking around the counter to lead Danielle down a hall to our left.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

Jackie waved until all were out of site, and then flopped back In her chair dramatically.

Looking out the windows towards the Rei's retreating figure, and the distant woods, she smiled wistfully. "I really miss being out there. I wonder if I could get a vacation soon, maybe head up to the Gundam Wing area for a while…" She pondered this with a smile, imagining herself out in the world again, just her and her bishounen.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

"Through here, onna. Just have a seat and the professor will explain everything." Wufei instructed me, pointing to an open door at the end of the hall.

"Thank you." I replied, pushing past the stiff bishounen to walk into the classroom.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

"Feh…onnas…" Wufei muttered, waiting until the girl disappeared through the door before turning back to the lobby and his trainer, "Jackie better not have erased my game!" With the thought of his PacMan game in peril, Wufei rushed away.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

I stepped into the classroom, avoiding the gazes of the few other people sitting in desks scattered throughout.

Choosing a seat towards the middle of the room, I sat quietly, waiting for this Professor K to show up.

"Hey." I turned in my seat at the sound, coming to face a boy that looked just a little older than me, who was leaning forward eagerly.

"Yes?" I asked impatiently, not in the mood to be social at the moment.

"Is this for real? Or are we, like, on Punk'd or something?" He was grinning as he spoke, looking around as if hoping to find the hidden cameras.

"I don't know, I'm new too." I said after a long pause in which he continued to just sit and stare.

"Oh… well… do you think that we're gonna be done anytime soon? I'm hungry." His demeanor didn't change in the slightest, despite the fact that I was trying to ignore him, he only barreled right into the next question.

After a few more questions along the same line of though, to which I continuously answered 'I don't know, I'm new too.', the professor walked in and everyone faced forward and stopped talking.

"Good afternoon class. My name is Professor Kinnian, although I'm usually referred to as Professor K… but call me Special K and you'll find yourself on the wrong end of my Sesshoumaru's temper." Just as with Jackie, this was all delivered in such a cheerful tone, it took us all a minute to realize that it was a very deadly threat.

"Ok, now that I've got that out of the way, welcome to the Bishi world. If you remember, you received an email to a website that offered to make you a trainer. Through that link, you were brought here. While here, you will not be remembered on earth, but if you go back, it'll be like you never left. Think of it like you put a bookmark in one book and moved on to another. Ok? Now, does anyone want to go home. Mind you, it's a one way trip." The professor cautioned, scanning the room for any signs of movement. After a brief hesitation, she moved on, clapping her hands together. "No? Ok then! First, I'll give you a couple rules to live by. If you learn nothing else, you better learn these rules!"

I found myself nodding along with the rest of the class, everyone silent as we took in the information. Looking around, I noticed a few people even had pens and paper out, taking notes.

"First of all. Bishounen and Bishoujo don't age like you and I… well, they do, but they also evolve. There are three main levels and two known sub-levels of Bishi evolution. The main three are Chibi, San and Sama. Chibi is the first level, that of a child. San is the mid level, and Sama is highest in the known records. The two sublevels are Tan, where a bishi doesn't fully evolve from a Chibi to a San, and Chama is the level between San and Sama. The first rule is this. You can capture any level bishi, _except _chibis. To capture a chibi is like kidnapping a child." While she spoke, she unclipped a ball from her belt and tossed it into the air.

In a burst of red light, a full grown, very bored looking Sesshoumaru stood before us, eyeing his trainer expectantly.

"Just think of it this way. To take a chibi, you'd not only have to deal with the law, but also very pissed off parents. So, is a scared and confused Sesshoumaru pup worth facing down a pissed off _this_?" As she spoke, she pointed at her bishounen, and those who knew about the InuYasha anime shuddered, myself included. The thought of an angry Sesshoumaru bearing down on me, claws glowing a poisonous green, made me shiver, avoiding the demon's cold gaze as he surveyed us all. After a moment, he burst out laughing, tears in his eyes.

"Ahahaha, K-chan, that's priceless! Did you see their faces?" He managed to get out between laughs, pointing at us with a shaky hand. We all backed away carefully, uncomfortable with being near a Sesshoumaru that looked like he was ready to pass out laughing.

"Hehe… well, just so you know, now that he's traumatized you, no two bishis are the same. Just because they look like the characters from the series doesn't mean they'll act the same. For example, my Sesshoumaru here never had an InuYasha brother, or an Inutaisho father, so he never had to fight for the tetsusaiga, or lose his arm. So he isn't cold and evil. There are plenty out there who are, but there are just as many that aren't." Professor K explained, patting Sesshoumaru on the back and smiling in a reassuring manner at us.

One girl to my left raised her hand once the professor finished.

"Yes?" The woman pointed at her and waited patiently.

"Ano… you said that he didn't have an Inu-papa… but how's that possible… Inutaisho _is_ Sesshoumaru's dad, right?" The girl asked, poking her fingers together in a Hinata fashion and keeping her eyes glued to the desk as she spoke.

"Guh… you're asking me genetics questions? This is gonna take a while…" The professor laughed, turning to the chalk board.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

Half an hour later, Professor K wrapped up her lecture, eyeing the clock as she set up a machine in the corner.

"Ok, so we've got all the basics covered… if everyone would line up, we can get your bishi balls and dexes set up, and you can get out of here." Professor K finally said, as everyone stood to line up.

"What I'm going to do is take a small blood sample and run it through the computer system over here. The blood sample is what will link you to your bishounen and bishoujo. So, who's first?" It was probably not the best question for her to ask while waving around a syringe with a very sharp looking needle.

After a moments silence where nobody spoke and more than a few people tried to edge away, one girl was pushed to the front. As if the ice was broken, the rest of the class went along smoothly, blood being drawn and bishi balls being handed out as they were created.

"Ok, those are your first set of bishi-balls. After this, if you need more, you can come back to any orientation center and have more created for a small fee. The first time you open up your dex, you'll be walked through how to set it up. Now, unless anyone has any questions, we're going to move down the hall, were there are a group of bishounen and bishoujo waiting, ones that came here of their own free will to be captured so they could have a say in who their trainer was. If you decide not to capture one here, you will have 2 weeks to capture your first bishi in the wild, or you'll automatically be sent home. Any questions?" When nobody said anything, the professor headed to the door, motioning for all of us to follow.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

Stepping into the second, larger room, we were greeted with the sight of an anime convention come to life. In the corner were a group of bishoujo from Excel Saga, Naruto and Gundam Wing chatting, while bishounen from anime I recognized, and others I didn't, were hanging out in small groups throughout the room.

The other new trainers split up, wandering around the room and chatting with the bishi. Or jumping them, squealing about how cool it was to finally meet their favorite characters. It was a 50 50 split on reactions. Myself, I just stood in the corner, observing for the first 10 or so minutes.

"Yo." I whirled around, coming face to face with a smiling Kakashi from Naruto.

"Yo." I replied, raising a hand in greeting.

"And you are?" He asked, leaning against the wall next to me.

"Danielle. Nice to meet you." On the outside I was calm and collected, but my inner fangirl had beat the sarcastic disbelieving part of me into a whimpering mass of tears as it squealed at the sight of a Kakashi talking to me.

"Wanna be my trainer and get outta here?" This was accompanied with that crescent eyed smile that was so completely Kakashi.

I blinked, completely floored at the suddenness of the question. "Um… that was…quick?" I said uncertainly, pretty sure that he was joking.

"Eh," He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "You didn't scream or jump me, and you seem pretty sane to me, so unless you've got something you're hiding, I'm good."

"Are you sure?" My hand rested on a bishi ball on the new belt sitting on my hips.

"Yup." He was grinning again, even with that mask on you could tell that it was a cheesy grin, but it was completely Kakashi.

"If you're sure." I said, the ball resting in my palm as I stalled, not sure of how to proceed. He just shook his head, poking the ball with his finger, and in a flash of light, he disappeared, the ball shaking slightly, but then falling still.

"Awesome!" I punched the air, unable to resist. My first bishounen, a Hatake Kakashi.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

Once I figured out the mechanism for the bishi ball, I released Kakashi, who reappeared in a flash of red as the dex in my pocket beeped at me.

"Maybe you should set that thing up?" Kakashi offered, poking at the lump in my pocket where the dex was.

"Yea, I suppose… that's not an offer to get it out for me.." I warned him as his hand started to wander. After he moved away, I pulled the mini computer out, and opened the screen. It flashed to life, the screen a blank white.

"Name?" I was thrown off guard as it prompted me for my name.

"…Danielle?" I said hesitantly, unsure if it was voice activated or if I had to press a button to start recording information.

"Age?"

"23."

"One new bishounen captured. Hatake Kakashi, San stage. Nickname?" As it said this, the screen flashed again, this time to a picture of Kakashi. I looked over at the bishounen, who shook his head violently, crossing his arms in an x to show that he didn't want a nickname.

"No nickname." I said, and closed the dex again when it beeped it's confirmation.

"Great! Now let's go eat, I'm hungry!" He grinned, grabbing my arm and leading me out of the room before I could argue.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

Stepping out into the sunlit streets again, I shielded my eyes with one hand until they adjusted, the other still in Kakashi's grip.

"Danny?" I heard off to my right, and turned to see the two people I ditched a few hours ago running up the road to greet me.

"Oh.. hey Lia. Sorry about the whole 'you're crazy and I'm running for it' thing."

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

Bishi Dex

Tamahome – a main character from Fushigi Yuugi, he is one of seven celestial warriors who guard the Suzaku Priestess Miaka. He is a skilled fighter in hand to hand combat, but has no proficiency with magic or modern weapons.

Rei – Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon, she can transform into a magical warrior with the ability to bend fire to her will and use it for attacks.

Wufei – Pilot of Shenron/Shenlong in the Gundam Wing series, he has a bit of an attitude when it comes to women on the battlefield or anywhere else that isn't a traditionally woman's place. He's the youngest of the pilots, at only 15 in the show, but is one of the most serious.

Noin and Hilde – two females from the same Gundam Wing series.

Sesshoumaru – InuYasha's older half brother, he is a dog demon who wants nothing more than to take his brother's sword and be rid of the half brother for good.

InuYasha – a half demon with the same father as Sesshoumaru, he's less refined and more hot headed than Sesshoumaru.

InuTaishou/Inu Papa – As far as I know, InuYasha and Sesshoumaru's dad doesn't have a name, so he is most often referred to by fans as InuTaisho or Inu Papa. He's only been seen a couple of times, but we know that he ruled the western lands before he was killed by a man who loved InuYasha's mother.

Kakashi – a perverted Jounin ninja from Naruto, Kakashi wears a mask so nobody knows what his face looks like, and is always seen with his hands in his pockets or reading Icha Icha Paradise, a perverted book written by one of Naruto's other teachers.

3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3

A.N.

Thank you so much for all the reviews so far. I'm sorry this took longer to post than the last few chapters, but this was one of the harder parts to write, because it was all dialogue for the most part. I actually have two or three more pages written out of things Professor K explains that I never put in, but I think I'm happy with this ^_^. 8 pages total, the chapters are starting to get longer! Wee!

As always, if you want to have a trainer appear in the story, feel free to email me at sontsunami06 aol. com without the spaces. Give me the trainer's name, age, appearance, personality, how long they've been in the bishi world, what bishi they have, what stage the bishi is, and how the bishis interact with you and each other.

Thanks!

Ja ne,

Tsunami


	5. Chapter 5

_Stepping out into the sunlit streets again, I shielded my eyes with one hand until they adjusted; the other still in Kakashi's grip._

"_Danny?" I heard off to my right, and turned to see the two people I ditched a few hours ago running up the road to greet me._

"_Oh... hey Lia. Sorry about the whole 'you're crazy and I'm running for it' thing." _

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

I turned to face Lia properly as she caught up to me, her face bright red like she'd just run a marathon. Tamahome just grinned behind her as she doubled over with her hands on her knees, huffing for breath dramatically.

"You ok, Lia?" I finally asked, after we all stood for a few moments in silence. She just waved a hand above her head, as Tamahome rolled his eyes, grabbing her arm and helping her straighten up.

"Sorry… I don't do well with running. And we had to run pretty hard just to catch up with you after you took off on us." She apologized, tossing me my helmet.

"Wow, you must be faster than you look." Kakashi commented, eying me with another of his masked grins. I just shook my head as I hooked my helmet around my wrist, having nowhere better to put it at the moment.

"Not fast, I just have a different mode of transportation. You'll see. Lia, Tamahome, this is Kakashi by the way." I explained, and Lia's eyes lit up in a way that was quickly becoming familiar to me. She launched herself at Kakashi, arms wide open, squealing.

Kakashi's one visible eye widened almost imperceptibly as he tried to sidestep Lia. She had been expecting that however, or so it seemed, and latched onto his arm tightly, squealing and bouncing.

Tamahome, who had been mostly quiet up until now, sighed, prying his trainer off Kakashi with a grunt. She just whimpered, dangling in his grip, her arms outstretched in that grabby motion that little kids always used when they wanted something out of their reach.

"No." He said, latching onto the back of her shirt, effectively keeping her on a short leash. She hung her head, pouting and giving us all a teary eyed look. While I just stood there, shaking my head, Kakashi edged over to me, furtively tugging on my sleeve.

"Ne, Danny? Food?" He grinned that crescent eyed grin, trying to tug me away from the pair standing next to us.

"I've got to get those supplies the professor was talking about first, and then we can get food, I promise." I said apologetically, and Lia perked up in Tamahome's arms.

"C'mon, I know where you need to go, and then we can go to the moonlight café for lunch, my treat!" She declared, tugging us all up the road, listing off what I'd need as we stumbled along behind her.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Alright, you've got food, medical supplies, clothes, sleeping bags, tents, empty capsules, am I forgetting anything Tama-kun?" Lia mumbled, marching down the middle of the street, completely oblivious to the dirty looks thrown at her by a few trainers who had to jump out of her way or be run over.

"Yea, to look where you're going baka trainer." Tamahome groaned, pushing her in the shoulder and causing her to spin out of the way of a group of Bishounen and trainers walking their way.

"Hehe…um, gomen!" She apologized, bowing at them before continuing her trek up the street.

"No, I think we can survive off that, what do you think Kakashi?" I said after thinking a moment, looking to Kakashi for his opinion.

The scarecrow just shrugged, smiling that infuriating, masked smile. "I can survive off nothing, that is luxurious to me, Danny." He replied, sounding like he was reminding a small child of something entirely too obvious.

"That's good enough for me. To the Moonlight Café!" Lia cried, once again pulling us to our destination.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Our destination turned out to be a tiny diner smack in the middle of the city, no bigger than a studio apartment. Lia, however, didn't seem to care or notice, bouncing over to sit at the counter, smiling cheerfully.

"Can I get a grilled cheese, tomato soup and a glass of milk?" She asked the girl behind the counter, a red headed lady that looked a lot like Kim Possible.

"Sure! No prob. And you?" She smiled brightly, turning to look at the rest of us patiently.

"The same as her, please." Tamahome grunted, jerking his thumb in Lia's direction as he strode over to the counter to sit next to his trainer.

"Can do, and how about you two?" The Kim look alike said, writing down the orders on a notepad.

I stared up at the overhead menu for a moment, taking in the oversized pictures of food. Just like back on earth, they were brightly colored, perfectly arranged, and very obviously not what you were going to actually be eating.

"Um… A grilled cheese and a coke?" I finally said, at a loss for what to eat.

"Maah, how about a bowl of chili and a peanut butter and syrup sandwich and a glass of milk?" Kakashi asked, and Kim nodded, smiling and turning to trot behind the wall into the kitchen. After a few moments, she came back out, balancing a large tray with all the items on it against her shoulder.

"Ok, we've got the three milks and one coke," She started, setting the drinks down in front of us with straws, then started passing out the food "two orders of tomato soup, three grilled cheese, and the chili with the pb & s sandwich. Is there anything else I can help you with?" We all just shook our heads, already devouring the food as it was set in front of us. "Well then, if you need anything, feel free to shout, I'll be in the kitchen doing inventory with my trainer!" She said, taking the tray, placing the check on the counter and turning back to the kitchen.

The next 10 minutes were mostly spent in silence as we polished off our food. Well, Tamahome and Lia polished off their food, Kakashi had finished in the blink of an eye, and I had finished my sandwich in about 2 minutes and was just nursing my coke at that point, waiting for the others to finish up.

However, I perked up when I heard the door open, turning to see just who else had decided to eat here, since up till now it had been empty.

Coming up to the counter was a group of three. The first, an Inuzuka Kiba, dropped into the seat next to Kakashi, and hollered, "Oi! Oneesan!" To Kim, who was just coming out of the kitchen. She hurried over, while the other two, both girls, took their seats. The girl sitting next to Kiba was his teammate, Hyuuga Hinata, who just shook her head at his outburst. The last of their group, who sighed and flicked Kiba's ear as she passed him had to be their trainer. She looked to be about my age, with shoulder length brown hair and grey eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses.

"Itai! Violet nee-chan!" Kiba whined, crossing his arms and pouting in an almost Naruto-esque fashion.

"C'mon Kiba, I know that didn't hurt." The girl, Violet, replied, "Besides, you shouldn't just yell for people like that."

"Neechan, I wasn't being mean or anything, Hinata knows that, ne, Hinata-Chan?" Hinata just blushed, looking between Kiba and Violet.

"Ano…ano…can I have a chef salad and a glass of water please?" She blurted out, ducking her head and poking her fingers together nervously.

Kim blinked, apparently not expecting her to order, but nodded, scribbling the order down on her notepad.

"Same." Violet nodded, and Kiba made gagging noises.

"Blah…rabbit food." He wrinkled his nose up, but Hinata and Violet just smiled as if this was a routine they went through every time that sat down to eat, "Gimme a burger and fries with a coke please one-chan!"

Away Kim went to the kitchen again, leaving our two groups alone. For a few moments everybody was quiet, but that didn't last.

"Oi, Kakashi!" Kiba elbowed Kakashi in the ribs, grinning.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked, turning to look at the other bishounen with a flat look on his face.

"Ain't you one of the border guards? What're ya doin here?" He asked loudly, swiveling on his stool to face the scarecrow.

"I was up until a month ago. Now I'm traveling with Danny-san." He nodded, eying the loud boy with something akin to amusement, "And you? I don't think I've ever seen an Inuzuka without their dog before."

"Akamaru? Vi-chan's been carryin' him. He seems to like riding on her head." Kiba laughed, jerking his thumb in his trainer's direction.

"Arf!" Akamaru agreed, popping up on top of their trainers head with a doggy smile.

"Awww, puppy!" Lia cooed, twisting off her seat and running over to Violet, who just laughed as Akamaru jumped off her head and into the other girl's arms.

"Hi, I'm Danny." I said, figuring I might as well start the introductions, "And I guess you guys already know this is Kakashi."

Violet held out her hand, and I shook it. "I'm Violet, and this is Kiba and Hinata. And Akamaru."

"And I'm Lia!" Lia cried, popping up between us with Akamaru perched on her head.

"Hey, what about me?" Tamahome pointed out, tapping his trainer's shoulder with a frown.

"Oh, and that's Mr. Whines a lot… I mean, Tamahome!" Lia laughed, hugging her Bishounen with a grin.

"It's nice to meet you all. Have you guys been here long? I was thinking about going up against the gym fighter, but I haven't heard of anybody else taking the challenge yet." Violet asked, taking Akamaru back into her arms.

"No, I was headed this way to do the same, but I ran into her along the way, and we've gotten kinda sidetracked." Lia said, petting Akamaru once more before sitting back down to her food.

Kim was setting Violet's food down as we were all talking, and perked up at the sound of the gym trainer. "My trainer went up against him. Poor Shego was knocked flat in no time! I'd make sure your bishis are trained _real_ well before you go up against him." She told us with a horribly serious look on her face, jerking her head back to the kitchen when she mentioned Shego.

"What about you?" Violet asked me, and I shook my head, still trying to get my mind around the idea of Kim and Shego working together, or at least Kim worrying about her instead of being distrustful and cautious of her.

"Oh, um, I'm new here, I just got out of the orientation center a couple of hours ago actually." I said, handing Kim my dishes with a smile and a quick 'thanks'.

"Oh, you're new? That's cool, you got a great bishounen here! I had a friend who had a Kakashi, he was one of the sweetest bishounen she had with her at the time.

"Yea, that sounds like me alright." Kakashi said proudly, and promptly fished a little orange book out of his hip pouch.

"Not in here please." I asked, putting a hand on his arm and guiding it back down to his hip, where he stored his book with a pout.

"So, you gonna stick around, or are you gonna head on out?" Violet asked as her bishounen ate, and I shook my head.

"Dunno, really. I don't think there's any reason for me to stay, got any suggestions on where to go?" I asked the two trainers.

Lia pulled out her dex, and it projected a map of what I could only guess was the local area, with a small, blinking star indicating our location.

"This is where we are, Sea Crest village. The forest to the west is fairly tame, but it also leads to the road to the next city, and you usually run into a lot of Naruto bishounen there. Or you can head east, onto the plains, that's D.N.Angel territory." Violet said, pointing out the areas she mentioned on the map with the handle of her fork.

"I'll probably head west…hey, wait a minute… my bike!" I groaned, sliding off my stool.

"Oh! The border guard said once you got your gear you could go get your bike back." Lia said, snapping her fingers and grinning sheepishly, "Sorry, I forgot."

"Don't worry about it, I'm gonna go get my bike and get moving. I guess you both are going to hang around here for a while?" I asked, feeling kind of disappointed. This place was messed up, and I was going to miss these two. I hadn't known either of them for more than a few hours, much much less in Violet's case, but they were familiar faces.

"Yea, but don't worry, we'll trade dex numbers, and you can call me any time you want, and I'll try and meet up with you somewhere along the way! I want a ride on that bike of yours." Lia promised, turning off the map and smiling.

"Same here, I'd like to meet up with you both again. There'll be a big tournament in Epoch city in a few months." Violet offered, holding out her own dex.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

10 minutes later, I was walking down the road with Kakashi, my dex in one hand as I finished entering my notes in it next to Lia and Violet's dex numbers, my bike stored safely in a previously empty capsule in my pocket.

"I'm gonna miss both of them." I commented, looking back towards the town we had just left wistfully.

"You'll see them again Danny-san." Kakashi said, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he walked.

"Yea…I sure hope so…"

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Bishi-dex

Inuzuka Kiba/Akamaru – Kiba is a shinobi from the Naruto series, from a clan of shinobi that bond with their dogs and fight with them in battle. He tends to be loud and brash, but is very protective of those he considers friends and family, like Akamaru, his white and brown puppy, or Hinata. Akamaru, in the case of Violet's Kiba, is still a puppy, and usually rides in Kiba's jacket or on top of his head, but once a Kiba evolves to the level of Sama, Akamaru grows to the size of a small horse, and can carry people on his back.

Hyuuga Hinata – a very quiet and shy kunoichi (female shinobi) from the Naruto series. She comes from the Hyuuga clan, who have the bloodline Byakugan, which is an optical jutsu. Their eyes are a pale grey, which make them look blind, but give them the ability to see 360 degrees around them, and also see the chakra points inside a human's body. Hinatas tend to stay quiet, and blush, stutter or poke their fingers together in a nervous fashion when put on the spot, but they are determined and protective, and shine when put under pressure.

A.N.

I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long. Between work and school and all the random drama, I've had this written up for about a month, but I just got around to proofreading it and posting it. I promise better updates from now on. I'm hoping to post one chapter every Friday if possible.

Also, Violet's character belongs to PeaceLoveOcelot, I hope that I portrayed her properly for you. Please let me know if you'd like me to change anything.

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been 2 days since Kakashi and I had left Sea Crest city, and we hadn't seen hide nor hair of any other bishounen in the region since.

Standing just off the beaten path, I argued with Kakashi, pointing up to the top of the tree. "Just climb up there and see where we are."

"Why don't you do it?" Kakashi countered, reading his book and pretty much ignoring me.

I sighed, knowing he was just baiting me. He had been doing this ever since we got out of the city. I'd ask him to do something, he'd ignore me, I'd get frustrated, then he'd laugh it all off, pat me on the head with a quick "Just kidding Danny-san." and not only do what I asked, but then some.

"Because, you can climb trees better than I can."

"Really, now? How do you know that?" He grinned, turning a page in his book and shoving his free hand back into his pocket.

"Because everyone can climb trees better than me." I groaned. That seemed to be what he wanted to hear, because he put his book away and smiled at me before walking straight up the trunk of the tree that I'd been pointing to.

I leaned back against the tree with a _fwump_, crossing my arms over my chest. I figured it would only take Kakashi a moment to survey our surroundings, but he'd stay up there another 20 minutes if I didn't climb up there to drag him down.

Finally, figuring he had settled in to read, I wandered away from the tree, planning to just walk a little ways away and back before dragging Kakashi back down.

After a few minutes wandering in one direction, I figured I should turn around and head back. I took a deep breath, feeling so relaxed. In the city that I lived in, it was so crowded, so polluted, and even in the country, I had never been in a place so pure and clean as this.

I wrinkled my nose after a moment, sniffing the air again. Scratch that 'pure' air thought. Although it was faint at first, once I caught the scent, I realized that something _really_ stank, in that understated way that you only noticed after a double take. I kept sniffing, following my nose to the source of the scent. It smelt bad, like decay. Not the clean decaying smell of the forest, but the scent that reminded me of road kill lying on the side of the road. I just couldn't put my finger on it, but that was as close as I could get to describe the scent. I moved further and further away from Kakashi, still sniffing the air like a dog.

Finally my nose led me into a clearing. The signs of a struggle were evident all over. There were gashed in the bark of trees, gouged in the earth, and blood everywhere. One hand flew to my mouth out of reflex, as I started to shake. On the far side of the clearing lay a prone figure. For a moment I couldn't bring myself to move any closer than I already was, almost positive I knew what I would find.

It took a few moments, but I edged across the clearing, finally kneeling in front of the source of the stench.

"Oh god…" I whimpered, that hot feeling rising in my throat that signaled the beginning of the waterworks. It was a young woman, her bright pink hair stained brown, glassy forest green eyes frozen wide open. Her body was swollen from being left in the sun, and riddled with cuts and bruises. Running diagonally from her right shoulder to her left hip was a slash cut down to the bone.

"Ka…Kakashi…" I couldn't keep myself from stuttering, tears streaming down my face by now like twin rivers. Who could have done this? What in the world would possess someone to do something this horrible?

While I was staring at the corpse, a wail shattered the relative silence of the forest. "A baby?" It sure sounded like it.

"_Kakashi!_" I screamed, finding my voice and hoping that the people who did this weren't still around to hear me.

Scrambling to my feet, I spun in a circle uselessly, unable to figure out where the crying was coming from.

In that same moment, Kakashi dropped down into the clearing from the trees without a sound.

"Danny-san, I heard – oh…" He trailed off as he saw the corpse, his voice suddenly gaining a gravelly tone.

"Kakashi, I heard someone crying! Help me find them." I begged, still looking for the source of the wailing.

Kakashi nodded, expression grim as he lifted his hitae-ate up, revealing his legendary sharingan eye to me for the first time.

"Kai!" He said after a moment, and the air around one single tree to our left seemed to shimmer for a second before a small, squirming bundle appeared, wrapped in a dirty blanket and wailing miserably.

"Oh my… Kakashi, do you think that's her baby?" I asked, unsure of what to do. I was torn, remembering the professor's warning on taking chibis, but unable to leave the poor thing laying in the roots of a tree and crying.

"Either she was the mother or guardian. It looks like she concealed the baby and turned around to fight… there aren't any footprints beyond those roots there." Kakashi was all business, tracing the footsteps around the clearing.

"Kakashi, what should we do?" I asked, wiping my face with my sleeve and blinking away any remaining tears with a sniff.

"Right now you just worry about the kid, give me a few minutes." He said, and I nodded. That was all the encouragement I needed.

"C'mere little one, shh… it's going to be ok." I cooed, rubbing the baby's back as I paced the clearing with him.

After a few minutes Kakashi walked back over to me, standing behind me and looking over my shoulder to stare at the chibi Iruka in my arms.

"That Sakura isn't one that I know, but my biggest concern at the moment is getting this Chibi taken care of. I'd say he has to have been out here at the least 48 hours, and who knows how long before all of this happened." Kakashi said grimly, pressing bare knuckles against the child's face. The kid did look feverish, his tanned face flushed and eyes glazed over from fever.

"I don't have any baby food, 'Kashi…that wasn't exactly part of the newbie plan, yanno?" I replied, biting my lip. The chibi had quieted by now, chewing on his fingers and hiccupping every so often.

"Any soup?" he asked, grabbing my dex and scrolling through my capsule inventory.

"Um…try capsule 7." I mumbled, rubbing Iruka's tummy, trying to make him smile.

"Ok, I'm going to just smash up the vegetables in this soup and see if we can't get some inside him. Wrap him in a clean blanket and put a cool cloth on his forehead." Kakashi instructed, finding the soup he needed and popping the can open.

While he started a fire and warmed up the soupy mush, I cleaned and changed the poor little guy as best I could, and wrapped him snuggly in a clean blanket.

"Here, it's cooled a bit, try and get him to eat some. Just a little." He cautioned, handing me the bowl and a spoon.

"I know. I don't want him to throw up any more than you do." I replied, taking a spoonful of broth and blowing on it before I offered it to the unhappy chibi in my arms.

For a moment he turned his head away, refusing the offering. Reluctantly, after a moment, he sucked on the spoon, dribbling broth down his chin. I repeated the process a few more times before handing the bowl back to Kakashi and rubbing the chibi's back.

"We'll give him some more in a bit. I'll go get a cool rag for him." Kakashi decided, leaving me alone in the clearing with chibi Iruka.

"What happened here little guy? I suppose you're lucky that you're so little… you won't remember all this when you evolve, I think." I mumbled, smoothing that soft brown hair back as he yawned.

After a few minutes, Kakashi still hadn't returned, and I was starting to get nervous. Not that it was an unfounded feeling of course. What happened to the fantasy world that I had tried to run from less than a week ago? I went from hanging with an anime character in an amazing, unbelievable world, to holding an abandoned baby in a clearing straight out of a horror movie, sitting next to a decomposing corpse and praying Kakashi returned before I lost my nerve completely or wound up like that poor Sakura.

A twig snapped in the trees behind me, and I whirled around, clutching the chibi closer to my chest.

"Kakashi? Is that you?" I asked nervously, scanning the trees.

No answer.

"Kakashi?" I was inching towards my backpack now, desperate for something, anything I could use as a weapon.

As my hand closed around a hefty flashlight, a twig snapped on the _other _side of the clearing.

"Sakura…" I whirled back around again, and was shocked to see a disheveled looking Iruka kneeling over Sakura, tears streaming down his tanned face.

"Oh…" My grip on the flashlight slackened when I saw him, and cautiously, I took a step closer.

He turned to stare blankly at me for a moment, and then his face twisted in rage. Kunai slid down into his hands from under his sleeves as he stood, glaring at me.

"Um…" This wasn't good.

"What have you done?" Iruka snarled, advancing on me in a very blunt, non-shinobi like fashion.

"What? No, no I didn't!" I protested frantically, scooting back until I bumped up against a tree trunk.

"My wife is dead, you hold my son in your arms, and expect me to believe that? Trainers… I knew you were a breed apart, but I never knew you were so despicable." He growled, leaping at me.

"Kakashi!" I shrieked, rolling away from the tree with the chibi still clutched protectively to my chest.

"Give me my son!" Iruka shouted, skidding to a stop and spinning to face me.

"Promise not to kill me!" I retorted. He dove at me again, and as I backed away, I tripped, falling flat on my back with an 'omph!' Chibi Iruka started to cry, and as Iruka closed in on us, I curled up around his son, turning my back to the enraged parent with my eyes squeezed shut.

The pain I was waiting for never came, just the sound of metal on metal. I rolled over to see Kakashi and Iruka locked blade to blade just above me.

After a few seconds of watching them trade blows, I grabbed a bishiball, rolling it around in my palm. I had to find the perfect shot, because once Iruka figured out what I was doing, I'd not have a second change.

As Iruka circled Kakashi and put his back to me, my arm snapped, sending the ball flying through the air to smack the center of the man's flak jacket with a satisfying 'thwak!' and a flash of red light.

"Danny?" Kakashi stared at the small black and silver ball shaking violently at his feet.

"You ok 'Kashi?" I asked, hoping beyond hope that the ball wouldn't break under the stress Iruka was putting on it.

"I'm fine. What about you? He didn't hurt you did he?" Kakashi replied, eyeing me curiously.

"No, 'Kashi. I'm fine. So's his son. I think that Sakura must have been his wife…" I said sadly, picking up the now motionless bishiball.

"I've never known an Iruka to lose it like that." Kakashi commented, putting away his kunai and picking up the flashlight I had dropped in the scuffle.

"Can you really say you've ever known an Iruka who found his wife slaughtered and his son in the arms of some trainer? I can't really hold him at fault for this, you know?" I spoke up, defending the scarred man. Chibi Iruka by this point had quieted again, just whimpering and reaching for the bishi ball as if he knew his dad was in there.

"This wasn't your fault." Kakashi grunted, busying himself with rearranging my belongings.

"I didn't say it was. But I can empathize with the poor guy. I'd lose it too, if I was in his shoes." I said, stroking the chibi's hair, just to keep my hands busy.

"What do you mean, you can empathize?" Kakashi asked curiously, making his way across the clearing towards me.

"Nothing… I'm gonna let him out, so be ready, just in case." I sighed, and tossed the ball into the air. It activated the release mechanism, and in a flash of light, Iruka reappeared, blinking and looking at his hands, which now held no kunai.

"You…cowardly…" Iruka started in on me the moment his vision cleared.

"Here… He's feverish but he's had food and liquid in him. I'll let you go once I know you aren't going to hurt Kakashi or myself. I'm serious, this wasn't our doing. We found this just a little while ago. I only got here two and a half days ago, and Kakashi thinks this happened at least 2 days ago. We were both in Sea Crest city at that point." I handed Chibi Iruka back to his father and barreled right on into my explanation without waiting for him to say a word.

He narrowed his eyes, studying me for a moment before turning to eye Kakashi in a similar manner. Kakashi just shrugged, not saying a word.

Then his son squirmed in his arms, pulling a stray strand of brown hair and smiling brilliantly. It was like a tension had been lifted, as the angry chuunin visibly melted, smiling back at his son.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Here." I said, kneeling between Iruka and Kakashi, offering them both cups of warm tea.

"Thank you." Iruka said, shifting his son so he had one hand free to take his cup.

"Thanks Danny-san." Kakashi echoed, taking his own tea and setting it on the ground by his knee.

"No problem. I'm gonna go grab some fire wood; I'll be back in a few." I replied, standing and dusting off my knees.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Kakashi told me, staring off into the distance as he spoke.

"Because…?" I prompted, sure that I already knew where this was headed.

"That requires going back into the forest." He replied without missing a beat.

"That'd be where the trees are, yup. Yanno, trees? The big tall pointy things made out of wood that burn really well?" I quipped, smirking cheekily at him.

"You know what I mean. I don't want to have to race off to your rescue again." He said flatly, staring at me with his one visible dark blue eye.

"Well gosh, Hatake-sama. I know ah'm just one lil' ol girl, but mebbe if'n ya gave me one of them there sharp pointy thingies I could try to fend off all the scary trees out there till you kin save me." I drawled dramatically, leaning against Kakashi with a sigh.

"Take a kunai and be careful. Maybe stick close, just in case?" Iruka butted in cautiously, handing me one of his knives hilt first with a small smile.

"See? Told you he wasn't just a homicidal maniac." I teased Kakashi, slipping the knife up into the sleeve of my jacket with a smirk.

"Stick close." He warned me before going back to his staring.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Once in the woods, I started my firewood hunt quickly. For all my bravado around Kakashi, I really didn't want to test out my nonexistent kunai skills.

As I walked I looked around for suitable firewood, which meant I wasn't watching where I was going, and nearly tripped over a pile of blackened logs.

"What the?" I hadn't noticed the random remains of a campfire underneath the tree I had just walked around.

It looked like a makeshift campsite, not just a fire, upon closer inspection. One that had been dismantled in a hurry.

Careful not to disturb anything, I did a quick search of the area, not really expecting to find anything. There was a small pile of firewood piled up next to another tree, which I gleefully stole. It made my job a lot easier. Underneath, however, was a smashed bishi dex. It looked like maybe it slid out of someone's pocket while they were dropping off the firewood.

I pocketed the broken tech, grabbed the firewood, and took off. My imagination was getting to me now, every shadow was making me edgy, every rustling leaf set me on alert. I didn't know if the campsite I was vacating was where the killer had stayed, or just some poor trainer who had gotten spooked by something and left, but my paranoia was pointing me in the direction of the former.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Walking back into our clearing, I dropped the firewood and then sat next to Kakashi, smiling smugly up at him like a child.

"What?" He asked in confusion, turning to face me.

"I found something." I replied in a singsong tone, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh?" He tried to feign nonchalance, turning away again.

"Yea, check it out." I dropped the busted dex into his lap, and leaned back to grab some wood for the fire.

"Where'd you find this?" Kakashi asked, careful to handle it only with the gloved partso f his hands as he turned it over, inspecting it from all angles before he passed it into Iruka's waiting palm.

"An abandoned campsite. It was under the firewood. It looks like whoever was there packed up and left in a big hurry." I said, absentmindedly poking the fire with a stick now.

"Where?" Iruka demanded, leaning over towards me with an expression of sheer urgency.

"Honestly, right over there. It can't be more than two, three hundred feed into the woods really." I replied, pointing in the direction of the other campsite. It took Iruka only a moment to kiss his sleeping son's forehead, put him in my arms, and transport out of the clearing in a puff of white smoke.

"There's nothing there, I looked. All that I found was the busted dex and the firewood. Everything else was gone." I told Kakashi, pulling out my own dex. "We should really figure out how to contact the authorities, ne? Trainers have to be involved in this somehow, if that dex was there, don't you think?"

Kakashi just nodded, doing a few hand seals and smacking his hands to the ground, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A small dog appeared in a puff of smoke, blinking lazily up at us.

"You get ahold of the authorities, and Pakkun will get the ANBU from the nearest village. This is something that the human and bishounen organizations both need to know about." The pug didn't wait for Kakashi to elaborate, taking off into the trees without a sound.

"Ok. I'm gonna see if Lia or Violet knows how to contact this place's version of 911." I decided, pulling up Lia's number and hitting 'connect'.

_Beep Beep Beep._ Lia's line was busy. I dialed up Violet next, and let it ring.

"Moshi moshi!" The voice on the other end was _not_ Violet's, it was too…male.

"Kiba?"It took me a moment, but I finally realized who I was looking at on the small vid-display.

"Oh! Danny nee-chan! What's up?" Kiba grinned up at me from the dex screen, Akamaru popping up out of his jacket to bark happily at me.

"Nothing good. Is Violet around?" I said, looking over my shoulder to see Iruka coming back.

"Yea… sure. Vi-nee-chan…" Kiba said with a frown, suddenly very serious. The dex was then taken from Kiba, and Violet appeared on screen, picking up on Kiba's mood change and looking at me with worry.

"Danny? What's going on?" She asked warily.

"We found something in the forest this morning…" I proceeded to catch her up on everything that had happened in the last few hours. In the background, I could hear Kiba growling, and at one point I thought I had heard Hinata gasp. "So, I need to get ahold of the police or whoever their equivalent is here. Any ideas?" I finished.

"Wow… do you need Lia and me out there?" Violet asked seriously, chewing on her bottom lip and looking thoughtfully off to the side of the screen.

"Lia's still with you?" I asked, figuring that may be who she was looking at.

"Yea, we just beat the gym trainer this morning." Violet nodded.

"Congrats! And tell her that her dex was ringing busy 30 seconds ago! But I've got Kakashi, and Iruka too for the moment. I'll be fine. Just need to get the cops out here." I said after a moment of thought.

"Ok. In the bottom left corner of the dex there should be a little red button with a whistle on it. If you hit it, it'll give you the option to contact the emergency dispatch center closest to the broadcasting tower your signal is coming from. I don't know exactly how it'll work. I never called 911 back on earth and I haven't called the dispatch center here either." Violet said, and as she was talking I looked at the keypad on my dex, finding the button right where she said it would be.

"Thanks Violet! I'll give you guys a call once we figure out what's going on with this. Other than that, just be careful. Watch your back out there, and I'll meet you at the tournament in 2 months!" With a nod and a quick 'see you soon' her image disappeared, leaving in its place the main menu of the Dex.

I didn't waste any time, clicking the button in the corner and waiting to connect to the dispatch center.

"Bishi World Emergency Services Dispatch. What is the nature of your emergency?" A male voice drifted out of the speakers, but the screen showed only a still shot of a bishiball against a black background, 'Bishi World Emergency Services Dispatch Center' wrapping around the ball in white lettering.

"My bishounen and I found a body in the woods to the west of Sea Crest city…"

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Bishi Dex

Haruno Sakura – a pink haired kunoichi who was teased as a child for her large forehead, until she befriended another girl, Yamanaka Ino, who helped her to be more outgoing. She is loud and obnoxious, or quiet and depressed. She is a moody bishoujo, especially when you get her around a bishounen she likes, usually a Sasuke or Naruto. Sakuras are usually healers, but when backed into a corner, they will fight tooth and nail to protect themselves and their trainers, to the point where they will forfeit their own lives if need be.

Umino Iruka – a sensitive bishounen, Irukas are usually strong fighters, but prefer to play the role of teacher and big brother to those they travel with. Under most conditions, Iruka does not lose his cool, forgiving people for most everything that they do to him. However, when his loved ones are hurt, or in the case of this Iruka, killed, the bishounen in question can snap, and becomes a terrible foe.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N.

Well, I'm pretty happy with this chapter. It's a bit darker then the past couple. Not quite as bad as the first chapter, but still not campy and happy. This one is actually pretty long for me too, I just couldn't stop writing. Hand written, this is 14 pages in my notebook, 8 pages + Bishidex and A.N. typed. Please review and let me know what you think. If you'd like, email me a character description and I'll put you in the story. As last time, Violet Jones is PeaceLoveOcelot's character, and I own no character in this story except Danny and Lia. Matta Ne!


	7. Chapter 7

"_My bishounen and I found a body in the woods to the west of Sea Crest city…"_

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"You know something?" I leaned over to whisper to Kakashi.

"What's that, Danny-chan?" He replied, watching the hustle and bustle of the clearing around us.

"One day, just a little while after I bought my motorcycle, someone hit me at a crossroads. It smashed my bike up and broke my arm, gave me one hell of a road rash too… and our emergency services people took three times this long just to get to me… and I was right down the road… It's sad, but I guess otaku just make better everything, ne?" I grinned, reminiscing.

"You broke your arm?" He asked after indulging me with a crescent eyed smile.

"Yea, in three places. They had to put pins in it and everything," I said, taking off my jacket and showing him the long bright pink scar on my arm. "They said I was lucky to get feeling in it at all after the accident. When mom let me take a soak in her tub, it's got those water jets yanno, that supposedly help you relax? Yea…I definitely would have traded away all feeling in my arm at that point." I laughed, rubbing my thumb over the scar as I remembered mom's face, when she found me screaming in the bathroom, unable to even move because it hurt so badly. She had thought the water jets might help me relax, but my arm was right over top of one when they turned on, she wouldn't believe me that it wasn't her fault, that we wouldn't have known it would happen like that.

"Ma'am?" We were both pulled out of our little conversation by the Dark Mousy Bishounen who stood before us with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes sir?" I said.

He motioned for me to follow him, so that's just what I did. When Kakashi fell in line behind me, Dark stopped, turning to face us. "Just the trainer, Kakashi san." He said, not a trace of a smile on his face.

"Where she goes I go." He said simply, stepping closer to loom over my shoulder at him.

"I said, just the trainer." Dark bit out, glaring at the scarecrow. Kakashi didn't say a word, just placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Kashi, it's cool. I think the ANBU want you anyway, I can handle myself." I smiled disarmingly at the Dark, the hand behind my back flashing the kunai Iruka had given me at Kakashi before slipping it back up my sleeve. With that, Kakashi shrugged, turning to walk away as if he didn't want to argue with me.

"We just need to ask you a few questions miss." Dark said, almost sounding apologetic, as he led me over to one of the fallen logs the BWES personnel were using as seats.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

After Kakashi, Iruka and I had all made our rounds with the Bishi World Emergency Services team and the ANBU, answering all the questions that they asked and dealing with Kakashi's protective streak, they headed off to take a look at the other campsite, and we settled back down to relax and eat something.

"That was….pleasant…"I said carefully, not sure how to really come out and say 'wow, those ANBU are some jacked up psycho scary freaks.'

Iruka chuckled, apparently understanding what I was getting at. "They can be intimidating, but that is the whole reason behind their existence Danny-san." He said gently, adjusting his son in his arms.

"I guess." I said, stoking the campfire back to a blaze. Kakashi was rummaging around in one of the capsule fridges, pulling out some ramen for us, and the remaining soup mush for Iruka Chan to eat.

We sat in silence for the few minutes it took to warm our food, and then slurping sounds filled the clearing as Iruka and I enjoyed our food, as Kakashi had cleared his bowl is .02 seconds flat, and was feeding Chibi Iruka.

"So…" Iruka broke the silence first, setting his bowl aside and looking over at Kakashi and his son.

"What's up Iruka san?" I prompted him when he spoke no more. He fidgeted, poking his fingers together.

"I was wondering… well, what you were planning to do now?" He asked, looking at the ground.

"Well, we were heading west towards the next city when all of this happened." I said, pulling out my dex. After a few minutes of trying to figure out how Violet and Lia had managed to get maps out of this blasted things, I gave up, chucking it at Kakashi in mock disgust.

"You are hopeless, Danny chan. . . I've only known you two days and I've already got that figured out." Kakashi groaned, shaking his head at me as he brought up the map in no time.

"Shut it, Kashi…you get to be the keeper of the dex from now on, I'm full of epic fail when it comes to that thing." I grinned.

"It's just like that phone of yours." He reasoned, holding the dex out to me.

"Nu-huh…it hates me." I protested, scooting away from the dex like it was a disease.

This little random act of stupidity got Iruka to laugh, which had been my goal, so I smiled, packing up the bowls and trash from our lunch.

"You can keep the hoodie," I said, gesturing to the sweatshirt I had bundled Chibi Iruka in to keep him warm, "I have others, and his blanket was filthy."

Iruka tucked one of the draw strings back into the hood of the sweatshirt, and looked up. "Actually, I was wondering if I could come with you. If you don't mind of course," He said quietly, "ruka is due to grow any time now, and I don't really have any desire to go back home. With my Sakura chan gone there's nobody there to hold me back."

"Are you…sure?" I asked, eying him cautiously. "I can release you. I only caught you so you wouldn't kill us. You aren't required to stay with us."

"But I want to. Honestly. You're a good trainer, from what I can see, and I'd like to stay." He argued, eyes wide with his conviction.

"Well... I guess. But what about Chibi Iruka? Doesn't he need, I dunno…clothes? And actually baby food? And toys and stuff?" I asked curiously.

"Well, like I said, he should be evolving into a full grown Chibi soon, he should have already, but the trauma of the past few days has probably delayed it some. And we're only a day's hike away from the next city." He said, pointing towards the west with his free hand.

"Danny chan," Kakashi whispered discreetly, leaning in to rest his chin nearly on my shoulder, "He doesn't want to go home. How would you feel to go back to a place where every last inch reminded you of what you've lost?" I covered my hand with my mouth, and nodded.

"Alright. Let's go find the ANBU and Police, and make sure they don't need us anymore, so we can head out."

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Bishi-dex

Dark Mousy – Dark Mousy, Also known as Phantom Thief Dark, is a D. character. Dark is a selfish Bishounen who covets anything he considers to be good art. Darks are very protective of their trainers, and love to flirt. He is an alter ego of Daisuke Niwa. In the wild, trainers can find 'live' Darks, who do not switch between forms, but are actually just Darks, or they can find Niwa males that may have inherited the Mousy spirit.

A.N.

I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long. I was laid off my last job, and was job hunting for the past few months. Urgh, joy of joys. But I've picked this up again, and have the next few chapters already typed up, so expect them to be posted by next week. Also, if anyone is interested in being my beta reader I would be super grateful. I try to make sure everything is good, but I know I miss things.

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami 06 aol .com without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.

Ja ne,

Tsunami


	8. Chapter 8

"_Alright. Let's go find the ANBU and Police, and make sure they don't need us anymore, so we can head out."_

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Hey guys?" I called out to the two grown bishounen ahead of me. We had been walking for a few hours now, having left my dex number with both the BWES squad, and the ANBU, and were told they would be in touch if they needed anything.

"Yes Danny chan?" Kakashi asked sweetly, not turning to look at me. It was his way of hinting that he was getting annoyed I think.

"We passed that tree." I deadpanned, pointing at a particular tree off the trail to the right.

"You're just seeing things." Kakashi dismissed with a wave, but I shook my head, stopping dead in my tracks.

"No, I'm not. See?" I pointed to a gouge in the bark, "I made that with Iruka's kunai the last time we passed it."

"Are you sure Danny san?" Iruka asked worriedly, backtracking to stand next to me and inspect the tree closely.

"Yea. How is it two full grown shinobi can be so hopelessly lost?" I groaned, slumping to the ground. My feet were killing me by this point, and I vowed to get a decent pair of hiking boots the next time I had the chance. My boots were flat soled, and had no support what so ever. They were designed to rest on the pegs of a bike, not tromp through god knows where with a couple of lost bishounen for hours on end.

"We aren't lost Danny san. Look," Here, Iruka pointed to the sky, which was just visible through the branches of the trees, "We've been heading the same way all day. The sun is setting, and that's the way we want to go. We haven't deviated from our path at all."

"Then what's going on?" I asked warily, suddenly having that second wind that comes from being nervous.

"Maybe a genjutsu?" Iruka suggested, but Kakashi shook his head after a moment's thought.

"If it is, it's not one by any shinobi in our territory…" Kakashi said carefully, looking around us. Apparently he didn't see anything, because he jumped up into a tree and ran to the top.

Iruka and I stood underneath the tree for a few seconds before Kakashi's head popped down out of the leaves. "Come up here guys, you have to see this." He said, sounding slightly confused. Iruka gathered his son up into his arms and jumped up easy as could be, leaving me standing there eyeing Kakashi expectantly.

After a moment, he cocked his head to the side. "What?" He asked, and I just held up my arms, making that grabby motion kids use to say 'carry me'.

"I can't even reach the low branch 'Kashi. Please help me?" I finally asked after he just stared at me for a minute with an amused expression on the few inches of face that I could see.

"Very well." He dropped down out of the trees and knelt down in front of me, holding his arms behind his back so that I could get a piggy back ride.

Very soon I decided I didn't like the shinobi version of a piggy back ride though, when he jumped up into the trees in that way that always made them blur out of sight on the show, leaving my stomach and the coherent part of my brain still on the forest floor.

"Whoa…" I groaned, burying my face in the back of his vest.

"Impressive, ne, Danny chan?" Kakashi asked, in a subdued voice.

"Dunno…I think I'm gonna be sick." I moaned, but forced my head up to focus on the view in front of me, "Wow…I'm not crazy, right? You guys see this too, yea?"

"Yes, Danny chan." Iruka mumbled, frowning at the sight.

Stretching out in front of us were the flat lands that were on the edge of the forest. From our vantage point, we were less than 100 yards from the edge of the forest, but if I leaned back down into the mass of trees and looked from below, the forest continued on unendingly.

"What is this?" I asked, clutching to Kakashi's flak jacket as he shifted to a sturdier branch.

"It's not a shinobi jutsu." Iruka said after trying to dispel the illusion.

"I would have noticed that the last time I used my sharingan." Kakashi said, shaking his head.

"So, that means that it's a magic user from another territory, right?" I ventured, watching as Chibi tried to catch a butterfly that floated by.

"Possible," Kakashi said slowly, scanning the area one more time, "But Danny san, it really isn't in our hands anymore. The authorities have taken over, and the best thing for us to do is to continue on and hope we hear something soon."

We both looked at Iruka as Kakashi said this, waiting for his response. At first, he stayed quiet, just holding his son close, but we could see it in his face. As Kakashi spoke, his face fell further and further, and his whole demeanor just seemed…sad.

"Iruka?" I prompted, shifting on Kakashi's back to try and find a more comfortable spot. Unfortunately, every time I moved I could feel the branch we were perched on moved, and I wasn't that fond of heights, so I stilled, waiting patiently for his response.

"Iruka, why did you join us?" Kakashi finally asked, when Iruka didn't answer. I smacked him on the back of the head as soon as he said that, but he completely ignored it in favor of staring at the silent man standing across from us on the tree.

"I…Danny san, please don't take this the wrong way… You're a nice person. Even when I was beyond reason and going for the kill, you protected my son from me with your life, and you didn't make me leave when I calmed down. You stayed with me when the authorities came…I didn't ask to stay because I thought that we'd hunt down the killers and make them pay, I really didn't…" Iruka rushed through without breathing.

"But…it's just too hard to let someone else take over the responsibility for finding the killers and move on?" I guessed, hugging Kakashi's neck tighter.

"I'm sorry Danny san…" He apologized, bowing his head.

"Don't apologize Iruka san, I completely understand, trust me I do… but I have to ask. What is it that you want to do now?" His head snapped up in shock as I asked him this.

"What?" Iruka asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

"Don't sound so shocked," I teased, "I don't want you to get hurt, but if you'll only be miserable with us then I'll break your bishi ball right now so you can be free to do what you want."

"I…I don't know what to say." Iruka said slowly, "I can't let them go though Danny chan, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, Iruka, I told you I understand. But if you don't mind me asking…what will happen to your son? It's not really a good idea for you to drag a baby, or a chibi, all over this green earth looking for someone you want to maim."

He shifted on the tree branch, and looked down at the baby resting in his arms with a look so heartbreakingly tender that I almost wanted to start crying.

"Could I…could I maybe leave him with you?" He sounded unsure of himself, and I'm sure Kakashi looked as dumbstruck as I felt.

"Iruka…no offense, but how do you know you can trust us?" I asked seriously, unable to associate this Iruka, who attacked me with the intent to kill, who had a son with a now dead Sakura, and was now willing to leave said son with veritable strangers to go off and hunt down her killers, with the Umino Iruka from the television show I used to love so much.

"I don't want to leave Danny san. If you would be willing, if I was allowed to keep my bishi ball, I could travel without worry of being caught, and I would be able to come back to you again. I'd be able to visit my son, and know that he was in good hands growing up." Iruka explained.

"I'll make you a deal Iruka." I said seriously, waiting for him to bring his full attention back to me before continuing, "You have to stay at least until he evolves into a full grown chibi. I don't want you disappearing before that. He deserves to have some memories of his father around before you go traipsing off into the wild. After that, if you still want to leave, I'll give you your bishi ball and you'll be free to come and go as you please, as long as you visit your son as often as possible. Deal?"

Iruka stood stock still, staring at me, and then down at his son, before looking back up at me with the most grateful look in his eyes that I have ever seen. "Thank you Danny san, thank you so much."

"If this is what you want, I can't stop you, I can only make sure that your son doesn't suffer." I smiled, and pulled out my dex.

"What are you doing Danny chan?" Kakashi asked as the dex passed through his field of vision.

"I'm going to call that trainer with the Dark that was on the investigation team, and let her know about this illusion, so they don't get trapped in it like we did. I have no clue if they're still at the camp site, so there's no point in actually walking back there." I said as I selected the dex number for the trainer, who's name was Kylar, and hit the connect button.

After a moment of ringing, the vid screen flashed on, and her face appeared. "This is Kylar, can I help you?" She asked, seeming to not truly pay attention to the dex.

"Miss Kylar, it's Danielle."

"Oh, Danielle. I'm sorry, we haven't found anything yet." Kylar apologized, bringing her attention to the screen for the moment.

"I understand ma'am, it's not that. We just wanted to let you know, there seems to be an illusion cast over the area to the west of where we found her. We spent a few hours walking in what my bishounen assure me was as good as a straight line, only to pass the same tree again and again. We took to the trees, and above the trees, we can see the edge of the trees right in front of us," here I showed her a view of the skyline, before leaning over Kakashi's shoulder, who took the hint and dropped down to give her a view of the path from below, "but below, the woods go on forever. Kakashi and Iruka say it's not a technique from anyone in their territory."

"That's very interesting. After we're done here, we'll take a look and see what we can find. As I said before, if we find anything, we'll be sure to let you know." Kylar said, and we bid each other goodbye.

"Well, let's get moving… I'd like to be in the next town by tomorrow if at all possible!" I said, putting away my dex and clapping my hands together.

"Yosh." Kakashi agreed, and he and Iruka darted off, Chibi giggling and me clinging to Kakashi's neck for dear life.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N.

Weee!!! Another chapter up. My ears are still ringing from the Nickelback concert, and I rewrote this chapter twice just while I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for the drunk/high people to leave! Hope you enjoyed it!

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami 06 aol .com without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.

Ja ne,

Tsunami

A.N. 2

Weeeeelll, lets see if this will post this time, I spent all last night trying to post but it just kept giving me an error message. ^_^


	9. Chapter 9

"_Yosh." Kakashi agreed, and he and Iruka darted off, Chibi giggling and me clinging to Kakashi's neck for dear life._

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

The trees passed by in a blur, but I couldn't see them from where I had my face pressed into the back of Kakashi's vest with my eyes shut tight and my arms in a strangle hold around his neck.

"Danny chan?" I heard him ask, and mumbled a 'huh?' into his back.

"Danny chan, we thought we'd stop for a break now, so you could relax. We should be in Eutriv city by tomorrow afternoon if we keep up this pace, but you don't seem to be handling it too well." Iruka said, helping me down from Kakashi's back.

"Guuuh…" I moaned, and dropped to the ground at their feet with an exaggerated motion.

"Don't worry Danny chan, we won't always have to travel at this speed, soon we'll have the right supplies and we can take our time." Iruka said apologetically.

"I'm not riding on his back again. I'm not a sack of potatoes…unless potatoes throw up on you…" I said, pointing at Kakashi accusingly. He just held his hands up and smiled disarmingly.

"Danny chan, you can't run as fast as we can, there would be no way you could keep up with us on your own." Iruka said diplomatically.

I took a moment to survey our surroundings, noticing the relative smoothness and the road that cut through the land heading to the west. "Are we following that road to Eutriv city?" Iruka nodded to answer me and I grinned.

"Wanna bet I can't keep up? Give me one chance and I bet you I can keep up with you no problem." I said, pulling out the capsule that my bike and my gear were stowed in.

"How?" Kakashi asked, leaning closer to try and snatch the capsule from me. I stuffed it down the front of my jacket with a frown.

"Not yet. You'll see when we get ready to go again. Remember, I never told you how I ran away from 'Lia and Tamahome so quickly the first day I got here. Now you'll get to see." I reprimanded him, smacking his hand away when he tried to grab the capsule from my jacket anyway.

"Hai, Danny Chan." He said with a sigh, and turned away.

Patting the front of my jacket, I grinned, and heard the tell tale 'poof' of a capsule being opened.

"Thanks for offering to fix lunch, Kashi chan." I said smugly as a fridge appeared in the puff of smoke.

"You're sneaky, Danny chan." Iruka said appreciatively as Kakashi just stared at me.

"I learn quickly." I stuck my tongue out with a grin.

Kakashi snorted and pulled out some ramen for us and the last of the soup for Chibi Iruka, setting them on the ground next to the small fire pit Iruka was building before restoring the fridge to its capsulated state.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Okay Danny chan, how do you plan on keeping up with us?" Kakashi asked as we doused the campfire and got ready to leave.

I couldn't help but grin. When I had gone to get my bike that day, Kakashi hadn't really paid attention to what I was doing, just walking along reading his little orange book. He was curious to see what it was I was hiding, and he wasn't hiding it very well.

With a 'poof' the capsule that had my bike and helmet was set off, and I couldn't help myself. Dramatically, I waved my hands out like one of the girls you see at a car show, loudly proclaiming "Tadaaa! Presenting, my baby! The Kawasaki Ninja."

"Ninja?" Kakashi asked incredulously, eying the bike with distrust.

"Just get ready to go hotshot, I'll keep up." I laughed, waving them on as I crammed my head into my helmet.

Kakashi took off running, and Iruka followed after giving me a look that clearly stated 'good luck with this, I doubt it will work.'

I fired up my bike, smiling to myself at the sound it made, before kicking the side stand up and shifting into first.

My plan was to let them get ahead of me and then rocket up into 5th or 6th gear, and catch up to them, to give them the surprise of their lives.

Pulling up alongside them, I couldn't help laughing at the surprised look on Iruka's face.

We rocketed around a curve in the road, where I had to back off a bit as I felt the bike start to give on the loose rock. Once I straightened back out, I couldn't resist racing past them both, whooping and laughing as I went.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"That was definitely impressive Danny san." Iruka said after I put my bike away. We had made it to the gates of Eutriv city in just a few hours, well, 4 and a half or so, something that Kakashi had remarked 'wouldn't have been possible' if he had had to carry me the whole way. I had just laughed and punched him in the shoulder, but I did worry about that. Once my bike ran out of gas, where would I be? I definitely couldn't run that fast for a second, let alone keep up the pace that these two seemed to keep so easily.

"Thanks Iruka kun." I smiled, stowing the keys in my jacket pocket and unzipping it so I could get some air. The jacket was my favorite, but it was heavy, with padded armor in the back, shoulders, elbows and chest, which made it awkward to wear, closed for long periods of time if I had to walk.

"I.D. please?" The guard at the gate asked, looking up from his own dex to wait for mine.

"Trainer Danielle, Age 23. 2 bishounen caught, Kakashi stage san, Iruka stage san." I closed the dex to shut it up.

"Go right ahead ma'am. There are a few hotels and the like up the street to your right, and if you take a left at the main road you'll be in the shopping distri…wait just a minute ma'am. Can I ask where you got that baby from?" Suddenly the once friendly guard was eyeing me suspiciously.

"Chibi Iruka is Iruka san's son." I said, and went to step around him.

"I'm sorry ma'am, we're required to ask. Please enjoy your stay in Eutriv city." He said apologetically, still eyeing the baby that Iruka held closer to himself.

"Thank you. Come on guys. Let's find a hotel room and get settled. No need to rush back out today, we can leave in the morning." I said, and we headed off to take care of everything we needed in town.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N.

Okidokies! Another chapter down. I'd love to hear what you think. And if you're interested in seeing what Danny looks like, Rikona from deviantArt did a drawing of her in exchange for a subscription. art/Commission-Danny-the-biker-116059797 Just with out the spaces. I think she came out better than what was in my head! XD

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami 06 aol .com without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.

Ja ne,

Tsunami


	10. Chapter 10

"_Thank you. Come on guys. Let's find a hotel room and get settled. No need to rush back out today, we can leave in the morning." I said, and we headed off to take care of everything we needed in town._

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Holy crow." I moaned, flopping down on the bed with a dramatic sigh. We had just finished shopping, and for the fact that I had just gotten supplies less than a week ago, the amount of stuff we had to get to take care of a chibi was insane.

"What's the matter Danny san?" Iruka asked, sitting on the other bed.

"Nothing," I groaned, sitting up and pulling out my dex, "Just thinking how insane all this is…it didn't really hit me until now."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, from where he stood playing with the TV.

"It's just insane. I mean, I used to love your guys' show and manga, I could never get enough of it. The same with a lot of other bishounen. But I hadn't really watched and anime or picked up a manga in, well…at least a year or so when I got the email. And to think that I'm sitting here now hanging out with you two, and there's a Chibi Iruka here too… it's just all so surreal I guess." I laughed at myself, flipping through the dex's profile options, "We're gonna have to find some way to make money soon, I pretty much killed the little bit that they give you at orientation."

"So turn on the monster feature." Kakashi said, giving up on the tv and coming to sit down next to me.

"Huh?" I handed him my dex, smiling.

He sighed, but took it, and fiddled with it for a few moments before handing it back to me. "There, now when we go outside the city, there's a random monster generator that will give us opponents to fight. I was told that they drop gold or other items." He explained, and I flopped back on the bed next to him with my arms and legs dangling over the sides.

"Thank you Kashi kun!" I said with a grin.

"Danny san, Kakashi san, I'm going to go give 'Ruka a bath, is there anything you need before I go?" Iruka asked politely once Kakashi and I were done talking.

"Naw, it's all good Iruka kun! Thanks though." I said with a smile, waving him off.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

The door to the bathroom closed with a click, and I looked up at the swirl on the back of Kakashi's vest.

"I don't trust him." Kakashi said, and I slapped his side, the closest part of him I could reach, as soon as he said it.

"Kakashi! Why would you say something like that? You've been nothing but nice to him since he showed up…well, after he stopped trying to kill me."

"We're both shinobi Danny chan. I'm good at faking it. I'm sure he knows this. And I don't believe him. He tried to kill you. His wife is dead, and now he's saying that he wants to leave his son with us and go off and hunt down these people, but that he didn't want to stay with us in the hope that we'd help him. I don't know what his game is, but I don't trust him."

I blinked, staring up at him with a slack jaw.

"But…Kakashi… I know he's hurt, and things have gone from bad to worse for him…But he's _Iruka,_ he's-"

"He's _an_ Iruka, Danny." Kakashi hissed, "He's not _the_ Iruka, he's _an_ Iruka. We aren't the characters you trainers think you know so well. We look the same, we may sound the same, but we aren't them. We're people, and we're affected by the world around us just like everyone else. The sooner you realize this, the better!" This was all delivered in a hushed, hissed tone, but the way he said it, he may as well have been shouting.

"Kakashi san?" I looked up at the back of his head, as he had never turned around as he spoke, instead delivering his speech to the opposite wall.

"I'm sorry Danny san. I'm not trying to scare you. But that's the problem with trainers. You never seem to realize that someone's not the same as what you think they are until it's too late."

"So, are you going to beat me senseless, steal my money and leave me dead in a ditch?" I asked harshly, sitting up so fast my head spun for a second. Kakashi whipped around to face me with shock painted on his visible features.

"Danny, I never said that."

"But that's your point, isn't it? I can't know that for sure, right?" I sighed, twisting to put my back against the headboard and pull my knees up to my chest.

"I'm not going to do that!" He insisted, leaning forward towards me.

I couldn't help but laugh, and he gave me a curious look.

"See, when you do stuff like that, I know you're different. Don't think I'm stupid Kakashi, or that I'm so brainless I can't tell the different between fiction and reality. I know you aren't _the _Kakashi, but you're _my_ Kakashi." I grinned, and latched onto him like a leech.

"Gomen Danny chan, I just have to protect you from unsavory bishounen." He said, not trying to free himself from my grasp.

"Aww, are you like my watchdog now?" I couldn't resist the canine jab, poking him in the ribs.

"Arf." He quipped indulgently, rolling his eyes.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

When Iruka came back out, with a clean and giggling chibi in his arms, he acted as though he had no idea of the conversation that took place while he was in the bathroom, and neither I nor Kakashi were planning to change that.

"So, should we wander around for a bit? Maybe head to the gym. I can watch chibi 'Ruka while you two train if you'd like." I offered, unsure of what else to do, seeing as it was only 4 or so in the afternoon.

"That sounds like a good idea Danny chan." Iruka said with a smile, wrapping his son in a soft blue blanket we had gotten earlier that day.

"Well, let's get moving then. Maybe we'll get to meet some other trainers, maybe get to battle with someone!" I hopped up, and grabbed my dex off the table.

"Yosh!" Kakashi agreed, and we headed out the door.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N.

Yay, another chapter down! 10 Chapters! (Does a happy dance) Please let me know what you think!

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami 06 aol .com without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.

Ja ne,

Tsunami


	11. Chapter 11

"_Well, let's get moving then. Maybe we'll get to meet some other trainers, maybe get to battle with someone!" I hopped up, and grabbed my dex off the table._

"_Yosh!" Kakashi agreed, and we headed out the door._

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

After getting lost twice and stopping to ask directions in a weapons shop, where we stayed for nearly 20 minutes so Kakashi and Iruka could look at the pointy weapons, we finally found the gym.

"Woah." I mumbled appreciatively, staring up at the three story building in awe. The entire front of the place was glass, so you could see what was going on inside from the street.

"Come on Danny chan!" Iruka called from the doors where he and Kakashi stood waiting for me.

I shook my head, and followed them in, thinking to myself as I walked. I trusted Iruka; there was no doubt about it. I'd admit that we met under … trying circumstances, but he was trustworthy. I knew Kakashi was truly just looking out for me, making sure that I didn't fall into the same fate that Sakura did, and I appreciated it, but his worries were unfounded. I had told him as much back in the hotel room, but I felt bad for dismissing him so easily. When my friends had dismissed me like that, even though they never meant any harm, it was like a slap in the face, like they were picking someone else over me. Could that be what Kakashi had been upset about? It seemed like the most likely choice, but I just couldn't place that sentiment with the Kakashi face.

Although, thinking back to the Kakashi Gaiden arc in the manga, and his hang-ups about friendship, and how people who didn't take care of their comrades were the lowest of the low, everything fit. I smiled to myself, proud for having figured out what I thought was the solution.

While I was lost in thought, the boys had guided me through the lobby, had me sign us in, and abandoned me in a corner with Chibi Iruka while they headed over to an open area built with the intent of sparring.

"Well, little one, here we are… your daddy and 'Kashi kun are off playing war and we're stuck sitting in the corner, ne?" I made a face at the baby sitting in my lap, and he giggled, clapping his hands together and nearly toppling over. I laughed, propping him back up between my knees and flicking his nose playfully. He was already a clone of his father, minus the scar. His brown hair was just curly fluff on the top of his head, and his face was obviously rounder, but his skin was the same warm caramel color and he already had the same kind caring look on his face, even with the little river of drool running down his chin.

"Awww!!! Kawaii!" I heard someone cry and looked up to see a girl probably no older than 15 or 16 kneeling over me staring at Iruka.

"Um… hi?" I said, unsure of how to reply to something like that.

"He's so cute!" She squealed, and sat down in front of me with a thud. Looking over her shoulder I could see three bishounen, a Roy Mustang, a Maes Hughes and a Mirai Trunks, all shaking their heads and trying not to laugh.

"Thanks?" I couldn't figure out any way to respond to this girl as she cooed over Iruka's son and motioned her Bishounen closer.

"Guys look! She has a Chibi!" Her voice seemed to carry across the gym, as suddenly I had the attention of every trainer and their bishi in the place.

"Chiyo san, please step back." Mirai Trunks said gently, a scowl on his face, as he guided his trainer away from me and the two uniform clad bishounen took her place.

"Where did you get this child?" Maes asked me, arms crossed over his chest and a look of disgust on his face.

"Whoa whoa whoa there buddy!" I said, scrambling to get to my feet so at least they wouldn't be looking so far down at me, "This is the son of one of my bishounen. If you've got a problem, you can take it up with him as to why they're traveling with me."

I could see Kakashi and Iruka pushing their way through the crowd, from where I stood in the corner, and couldn't help but feel relieved. Mustang was a flame alchemist after all, and Hughes was notoriously protective of kids.

"Well where is he?" Hughes asked, sounding a little less angry at my explanation.

"There." I pointed to where my bishounen were just coming up behind them.

"Is this true? He is your son?" Mustang asked Iruka, who nodded as he came to stand by me and take his son back.

"I apologize, ma'am. One can never be too careful when it comes to the safety of our children." Maes apologized, as the crowd started to disperse.

"I guess it's no big deal. I hadn't been in a town since I met these two, so I wasn't prepared for the lash back yet." I replied, completely on edge from the small confrontation.

"I'm so so so sorry!" Chiyo apologized, bowing exaggeratedly once Mirai Trunks let go of her arm.

"Um, it's ok." I said, not sure if I was allowed to feel embarrassed for this girl or not. Her bishounen seemed used to her behavior, so I wondered if she had always been this loud and theatrical.

"I'm still sorry," She said, before brightening up, "Hey, how about we duel? My guys could use the training."

I blinked, and looked at Kakashi and Iruka, who shrugged as a way of agreeing. "Sure, I guess." I finally said, and she clapped her hands together excitedly before leading us off to a different room in the gym.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

The room we had been led into was huge, easily the size of my old high school gym, with a simple set up painted on the floor. Boundary lines I supposed. The room was absolutely empty, and there was a large square painted on the floor in bright white lines, leaving maybe five or six feet of space on every side between the wall and the line. On the two ends farthest from one another were two smaller boxes painted right up against the main box, only a few feet square. I was told this was where the trainers were supposed to stand, while their bishounen dueled inside the bigger box. There were no boundaries, no punishments for going outside of these lines, they were just there to let people know that it would be safest if they stood up against the walls to watch, to give the bishounen all the room they could.

Chiyo jogged over to the far end, and stood in her box, leaving me with the side closest to the door. Her Roy Mustang was already standing in the center of the room, having ditched the heavy outer jacket of his military uniform.

"Well, which one of you wants to go?" I asked, facing my bishounen.

"I'll do it." Kakashi replied, not waiting for me to say anything before walking out to meet the Colonel in the center.

"I give full consent as Danny san's bishounen to fight until I am called back or knocked unconscious." Kakashi said, pulling out his Icha Icha Paradise book and opening it to somewhere in the middle.

"As Chiyo san's bishounen I give full consent to fight until I am knocked out or called back." Roy replied, pulling his white gloves on and standing up straight.

"Yosh! Fight!" Maes cheered from the sidelines, and that seemed to be a trigger, because Roy darted back, right hand raised up over his head, poised to snap.

"Kashi! Watch his hands!" I warned him, and Kakashi snapped his book shut, body flickering out of sight.

He reappeared right behind Roy, grabbing his hands and jerking them behind his back.

"Not like that!!" I groaned, seeing a telltale smirk flash across the Colonel's face before he snapped, and a flash of fire temporarily blinded me.

As the spots disappeared from in front of my eyes, the charred body hit the floor and I just about screamed when it disappeared in a 'POOF' of smoke.

"Too slow." Kakashi's voice echoed, and as Roy looked back and forth trying to find his opponent, Kakashi's hands shot out of the ground, going Roy's feet.

"Look out Roy!" Chiyo shouted, and Roy leapt back, just out of Kakashi's reach, fingers at the ready to perform his alchemy again.

Kakashi leapt up out of the ground, and Roy snapped his fingers. This time I had the forethought to shield my eyes, so I could see Kakashi roll under the wave of fire and deliver a kick to Mustang's chest, sending him skidding down to his knees a few feet away from Chiyo on the other side of the gym.

Kakashi's hands moved lighting fast through a series of hand seals, ending in _tori,_ before saying "Suiton, Suiryudon no jutsu!" The ground rumbled, and water started to appear, from under the ground, and from the air. It formed into a small stream, taking the shape of a water dragon that snaked through the air and crashed down over Roy's head. It was nowhere near as impressive as the ones from the show, but considering Kakashi had formed it from the moisture in the air and the ground, which would explain why it was so dry in the room all of the sudden, it served it's purpose well. The next time Roy tried snapping his fingers, the spark cloth his gloves were made from didn't create the spark needed for him to use his fire alchemy.

Seeing his opening, Kakashi darted forward, sinking his fist into Roy's stomach and sending him into the ground with swirls in his eyes.

"Winner, Kakashi and Danny." Maes said after Roy didn't try to get back up.

"Alright Roy, you did great." Chiyo said, holding out a bishi ball and summoning Roy back.

"That was great Kakashi!" I grinned, handing him a potion as he came back over. He hadn't taken much damage, but there were burn marks on his exposed skin, as if he had been a hair too slow with his kawarimi no jutsu earlier.

"Man, he's definitely a tough one to beat!" Chiyo laughed, having released Roy from his bishi ball. She was walking over to us, Maes helping Roy to walk.

"Thanks. Do you need a potion for him? It looks like he took that last hit pretty hard." I offered, digging another potion out of my backpack.

"Oh, no thanks! I've got some." She smiled, handing one of her own to him.

After Roy finished his potion and stretched out his back with a pop, Chiyo fished out her Dex, motioning for me to do the same.

She punched a button on her Dex, and held it out close to mine, causing it to beep.

"Funds transferred." Both Dexes proclaimed.

"Since we didn't make any wagers, the Dexes automatically transferred a standard, pre-set amount of gold for your win." Chiyo explained at seeing my confused stare. Looking at my dex, in the top right corner of the screen, I could see that my gold count had gone up.

"Thank you." I said, pocketing my Dex again and bowing.

"Not a problem! I'm gonna take Roy and Maes back to our hotel room so Roy can rest up a little. If you're still in the area tomorrow, I'll probably be here!" She replied, as she and her Bishis turned to leave the room.

"We probably won't be, but it was nice to meet you!" I told her as she walked out the door with a wave.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"I was kinda surprised she didn't have Trunks fight." I admitted once we were back in our own hotel room, "I mean, he's a hardcore fighter. Roy didn't really stand a chance."

"She may have just been trying to help Roy gain more experience to evolve." Iruka pointed out, bouncing his son on his knee.

"That would make sense." I conceded, and looked down at Chibi Iruka, "You feelin ok sweetie? You look kinda funny."

Iruka and Kakashi both looked at the Chibi, and Iruka was grinning from ear to ear. His son was starting to glow a bright white, and I had to look away as spots started to dance in front of my eyes again.

"What's happening?" I asked, and Iruka set the glowing bundle in my lap.

"He's evolving." He said simply, and as I watched, the glow faded, leaving a bishi the size of a 10 year old in my lap where there was once a baby.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Bishi Dex

Roy Mustang – Flame Alchemist Colonel from Full Metal Alchemist, Roy has the ability to wield fire as a weapon due to the spark cloth his gloves are made out of. Once he gets wet, however, any advantage he has disappears.

Maes Hughes – A non alchemist from Full Metal Alchemist, Maes Hughes is very protective of those he considers family, and is extremely skilled in throwing knives and hand to hand combat.

Mirai Trunks – A version of Trunks that came from a different future where the Androids had destroyed most of the planet, this Dragon Ball Z character is usually very serious, and will protect his trainer at all costs.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N.

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami 06 aol .com without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.

Ja ne,

Tsunami


	12. Chapter 12

"_He's evolving." He said simply, and as I watched, the glow faded, leaving a bishi the size of a 10 year old in my lap where there was once a baby._

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

We had just finished our second shopping trip of the day, having had to go out and buy new clothes again, as nothing we had gotten during the first trip would obviously fit Chibi Iruka now.

I couldn't help but giggle, swinging the bags of clothes in my hands as I thought of everyone's reactions to Chibi Iruka's evolving.

_~Flashback~_

_Sitting on my lap was Iruka, that was for sure, although he looked nothing like he had ten seconds ago. _

_For one thing, his clothes most definitely didn't fit him anymore, and I couldn't help but blush, turning my head away as Iruka pulled his son into his own lap and got one of his blue long sleeved shirts on him. _

"_Tousan?" Chibi Iruka sounded confused and disoriented, but growing that much so quickly would do that to anyone. _

"_Hai. Come, let's get you dressed in something before our trainer blushes herself to death." Iruka teased his son, picking him up and leaving the room._

"_Th-that was quick." I stammered, referring to Iruka's sudden evolution._

"_Sou ka? Our children never stay in that stage for very long." Kakashi said, not looking up from where he sat sharpening one of his kunai on a small stone._

"_Kakashi?" I asked, "Are you still upset?" _

_~End Flashback~_

Kakashi had said he wasn't upset, he just thought I was a little too carefree for having come across a corpse within days of getting to this place.

All I could do at that point was shrug and smile. _"No use getting worked up over what I can't control, ne?" _

He had, well, chuckled would probably be the best word for it. Just a shake of his shoulders and a snort.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Aaaah, time for sleep!" I announced with a grin, stretching out my back and dropping on one of the beds with a groan.

"Actually…Danny san, could I speak with you before you go to sleep for the night?" Iruka asked, as he tucked in his son.

"Um…sure. Sup?" I asked, a little confused as to what he could want that couldn't wait till morning.

"Can we step out into the hall please?" He asked, looking down at his son meaningfully.

"Oh? …Oh!" It dawned on me that he probably wanted to get the hell out of here and start hunting down the baddies, and didn't want to say it in front of his son. I stood back up, kicking the shopping bags out of my way, and followed him out of the room.

"Danny san, thank you so much for giving me this chance." He started to say as I turned to face him, but I held up one hand to hush him.

"Hold it a second. I want your promise." I said, crossing my arms over my chest and waiting.

"Promise of what?" He sounded confused, cocking his head to one side and staring at me.

"Promise me that you're doing what you say you're doing. That you won't do anything that you'd be ashamed to tell me and your son about later on." I said seriously, using the same line on him that my mom had used on me dozens of times when I was younger.

"I promise." He said solemnly, holding up one hand in a twisted imitation of the boy scouts oath, although I wasn't sure he knew what a Boy Scout really was.

"Ok. So what are you planning on doing?" I asked, unhooking the miniature bishi ball off my belt that linked him to me.

"I was planning on heading back to where…to where you found my wife." He faltered for a moment, a pained look sweeping across his face, "I was going to see if I could find anything, and go from there."

"Alright… make sure you set your son down and explain to him what's going on before you leave? So help me if you just walk out now I'll come after you with a rusty spoon." I said, handing him his bishi ball and turning back into the room without waiting for his response.

"_I hope I didn't upset him with that…I just don't want poor Chibi-chan to feel abandoned." _I thought ruefully as I let Iruka walk past me through the doorway. I watched him pick up his son and carry him into the hallway again, to talk privately I assumed.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Iruka chan, c'mon sweetie, just another mile or so and we'll stop for the night, I swear." I called back to the small child, who was dragging his feet behind me. Kakashi was leading us, one hand in his pocket and the other holding his Icha Icha Paradise book up near his nose, but I knew he was paying close attention to us and to our surroundings.

"Hai, Danny nee chan." He said glumly, and picked up the pace to pull up alongside me.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the little boy; he had been bummed out since his father had left early that morning before the sun had even risen. The only reason I was awake when he left was because I had rolled out of bed and hit the floor face first.

"Hey kiddo, you want a piggy back ride?" I asked with a false cheeriness, slowing my pace and looking down at Iruka with a smile.

"No thank you Danny nee chan." He responded, kicking a pebble as he walked.

"Iruka chan, please don't be sad. Your dad is coming back, I promise. He's linked to me through his bishi ball, I can tell right where he is," I said, which was true, as long as he carried his bishi ball with him, he could travel unrestricted, and I could sense where he was, "and he misses you terribly. But there's something he has to take care of first. But Kakashi and I will take good care of you, ne Kakashi kun?"

Kakashi raised a hand in response, not taking his nose out of his book.

"Ne, Iruka chan, what's say we steal Kakashi's book as punishment for not paying attention to us?" I mock whispered to the child, who seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding.

"Yosh. It'll be good training for me, ne, nee chan?" I tried not to sigh, having planned on this being for fun, not training, but he was being more social, what more could I ask for?

Kakashi pretended not to hear this exchange, but still ducked when I dove for him.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"You did good, Iruka chan." I said, ruffling his hair out of it's ponytail, while subtly rubbing a bruise on the back of my head with my other hand.

"I didn't get the book though…" He pouted, trying to put his hair back to rights with little success.

"Ne, you did knock 'Kashi kun to the ground though. And that's better than I did. You're already better than a civilian!" I said brightly, laying out our bed rolls and opening the fridge capsule to get dinner.

"Yea …but…" I held up my hand to stop his protests, hearing a sound from the woods to our left.

I looked at Kakashi, who just mouthed 'Bishounen' to me, before disappearing into the trees above us.

"C'mon Iruka chan, we're going Bishi hunting, so let's stay quiet." I whispered, motioning for him to follow me into the brush silently.

We wandered almost fifty feet into the woods before I caught sight of Kakashi in the branches of a tree, pointing me in the right direction. I followed where he was pointing, and gasped.

The bishounen in question whipped around at the sound, automail arm already changed into a blade. But I had been just a little faster, whipping a bishi ball at him mid gasp. He held his arms up over his face as if to block the incoming attack, but the ball just bounced off the blade on his arm, sucking him up in a blast of red light.

The ball dropped to the ground with a small thud, and shook for just a moment before stilling.

"Yosh!" I cheered, rushing out of the bushes to pick up the ball. I couldn't resist the urge to nuzzle the bishi ball like a little kid, grinning like an idiot. "I caught an Edward Elric!"

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Bishi Dex

Edward Elric – a 'Genius' Alchemist, and the older brother of Alphonse Elric, he lost his leg trying to transmute his mother, and lost his arm as trade to bring his brother's soul back from the gate. Both were replaced with automail, technologically superior prosthetics. He tends to break his fairly often, and if the trainer is not mechanically inclined it is strongly urged to catch a Winry Rockbell to help with maintenance. Any mention of the words short, small, tiny, little, or bean set him off, as he is very sensitive about his height.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N.

Well, it's officially a Bishi world fic and no longer just a really weird Mary Sue Naruto fic! Hooray! Sorry it took so long to update. But after having someone jump across the counter at me to try and get their prescription without paying I was inspired to write again. XD maybe I just need to be attacked by desperate drug addicts every day to keep this up, ne?

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami 06 aol .com without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.

Ja ne,

Tsunami


	13. Chapter 13

"_Yosh!" I cheered, rushing out of the bushes to pick up the ball. I couldn't resist the urge to nuzzle the bishi ball like a little kid, grinning like an idiot. "I caught an Edward Elric!" _

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Come on out Ed!" I said, releasing Edward from his confines. In a burst of red light, he reappeared, still crouched in a defensive position, although his automail blade had been changed back into his regular arm guard.

He straightened slowly, eyeing me cautiously.

"Um…hey?" I said, sounding as unsure as I felt. What were you supposed to say as way of greeting to an awesome bishounen you just surprised out in the middle of nowhere and shoved into a tiny bishi ball?

We all stood there in a circle like that for a few silent, tense minutes; Kakashi in his tree, Iruka standing behind me trying his hardest to look fierce and failing miserably, and Ed staring at us with an expectant look on his face.

"Kinda short to be a san staged bishounen, isn't he?" Kakashi finally asked with a laugh, referring to my dex' earlier announcement of Ed's capture.

I didn't say a word, just picked Iruka up and backed away slowly. Ed stood stock still for about three seconds, his face turning bright red and a vein throbbing in his temple. Then he clapped his hands together and was in the tree right next to Kakashi, thanks to a stone pillar that had exploded from the ground beneath his feet.

"WHOAREYOUCALLINGABEANBOYTOOSHORTTOREACHTHEBOTTOMSHELFOFTHEBOOKCASE?!!" He exploded, leaping for Kakashi and tackling him out of the tree. They both hit the forest floor with a thud, and I winced. We had never really seen, in the show or the manga, any reason to believe that Ed was anything more than talk, since Alphonse had always restrained him from maiming whoever insulted him. Apparently, this Ed at least could back up his talk. Kakashi must have been caught off guard by the sudden explosion from the other boy, because when they hit the ground, it was still the real Kakashi pinned under Ed's automail hand, not a shadow clone or replacement.

"Ed!" I finally said, having been stunned speechless by the display of violence, "Ed, get off of him!" I rushed forward, grabbing his flesh arm and tugging. He didn't so much as budge, but he did stop trying to beat Kakashi in the face.

"Kashi kun, _never_ and I mean _never ever ever_ use the s-word around Ed san. EVER." I said, "Or any variation of the word! Ed san, he didn't mean it, he's really sorry, can you please get off of him?"

Ed seemed to consider this for a moment, before climbing off the stunned shinobi, dusting off his black leather pants and straightening his red duster jacket.

"You ok 'Kashi kun?" I asked, offering a hand to help him up. He ignored it, springing to his feet and rolling his head to the side to crack his neck.

"I was just surprised." He said, making a show of straightening his flak jacket as he walked over to stand next to me.

"Well…um… welcome to the group Ed." I said awkwardly, holding out a hand to shake. He looked at us curiously for just a moment, before gripping my hand in his. I had expected something, anything, when we shook hands. A painful cold because of the steel, or maybe a super strong grip, but the glove covering his automail hand held back any cold there might be, and he had amazing control, if I didn't know any better, I would think there was nothing odd about him at all.

Kakashi and I turned, heading back to the campsite, but soon realized that we were alone. Turning around, I covered my mouth to hide the smile, while Kakashi out and out laughed. Iruka, only tall enough to face Ed's belt buckle head on, stood between Ed and the rest of us, a wooden kunai that Kakashi had carved him for training with held up in front of him. Ed, who obviously didn't know how to handle this pint sized threat, stood with his hands held up in front of him defensively, trying his hardest to hide his own smile.

"Iruka chan?" I asked carefully, stepping forward with the intent to scoop the chibi up in my arms and walk off with him.

"Tou san said I have to protect Onee chan." Iruka said as way of explanation.

"That's great sweetie…but Ed san is one of us now, see? I captured him, just like I did 'Kashi kun and your Tou san." I explained, kneeling in front of him and guiding the kunai in his hands down until it pointed at the ground instead of somewhere over my shoulder at Ed.

"He's a friend now?" I nodded, and that seemed to be good enough for Iruka, who spun the kunai in his hand, sliding it into his leg holster and snapping the case shut with a grin.

"It's nice to meet you Ed san." He said formally, bowing to the older boy.

Ed stood with one hand on his hip, the other scratching the back of his head. After a moment's hesitation at the chibi's complete 180, he managed a "Erm… yea. Nice to meet you too kid."

"Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'm still kinda hungry, and we haven't even got a fire going back at camp yet. So let's go." I said, turning back towards camp with a wave of my hand. Kakashi fell into step next to me silently, while Iruka raced off ahead of us all, disappearing into the bushes. After a moment's hesitation, I could see Ed shrug, as if to say why not, out of the corner of my eye and follow after us.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Here Ed san, you want some dinner?" I asked, offering the blond bishounen a plate of food. He took it silently, and turned away from the fire to shovel the food into his mouth as quickly as possible. "There's more food over here if you're still hungry, Ed san."

I sat back down in what seemed to be my now customary place by Kakashi, who handed me a plate of food before turning back to his book.

"One of these days, I'm going to steal that book from you and switch it with…well, I don't know, but I'll think of something." I grumbled, reaching out to snatch the little orange book, which Kakashi just held out of my reach with a hidden smirk.

"Danny nee chan, can I have some more rice, please?" Iruka asked, holding his plate out for me to refill.

"Sure, chibi, here you go." I said, giving him another helping.

"Arigato nee chan! So where are we headed to?" Iruka asked between mouthfuls of food.

"Well, I don't honestly have a plan, I just figured we'd wander for a while. Unless you need anything Ed san?" We all turned to face the newest addition to our group.

He stayed silent for a moment, thinking, before rattling off a list of tools, for his automail maintenance I'd assume.

"Well, let me check real quick," I said, digging out the capsule that held my motorcycle. With a puff of smoke, I was digging through the storage compartment under the seat, and came away with a handful of tools. "I have all the screwdrivers, and the 3/16ths wrench, but I don't have the 3/8ths. Sorry. Do you need it tonight? Because if you two go back into your bishi balls I can be back in town in a half an hour or so."

Ed flexed his metal arm, testing it for malfunctions no doubt, before shaking his head, "No, I'll be fine until we get to the next town, Onee san."

"Ok. I'll leave these in my backpack, if you need them." I said as I dropped the bundle of tools into my bag and capsulated my ninja once more.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

The next morning we set out down a sunlit path through the forest, and I couldn't help but feel that everything was just _right_ for the first time since I had gotten to this world. It was a gorgeous day, I was walking with an adorable chibi and two of my favorite characters ever. If I wasn't horribly superstitious, I'd ask what could possibly go wrong.

Beep! My bishi dex beeped at me incessantly, and I pulled it out, not sure what the sound signified.

"Danny? It's Violet!" The speaker said after I flipped the lid open.

"Violet? Oh hey! How's it goin? Did you beat the gym trainer?" I asked after recognizing the face on the small screen.

"No…" she pouted, "He knocked Kiba flat, he recovered okay, but he got beat badly."

"Heeey! Vi nee chan! Don't be so mean! He had to be cheating!" Kiba shouted from off screen.

"He didn't cheat, Kiba, you were too busy staring at his bishoujo's breasts to notice she was fire blasting you in the face." Violet shot back, before shaking her head and smiling at me, "Lia beat him though. I wanted to see how things were going since…well, you know…"

"It's ok. After I hung up with you the Bishi World Safety Department and the local authorities showed up. Iruka and his son were both staying with me, but Iruka, the older one…geeez, I didn't have much time to realize how confusing it was to have two of the same bishounen! Anyway, Iruka san left, took his bishi ball with him, so that he could track down the killers, and left his son with us. And I caught an Edward Elric bishi!" I summed up, turning the screen to showcase the three bishounen walking in front of me. Iruka waved up at the dex with a muted smile, Kakashi flashed the peace sign without turning around, and Edward just nodded.

"Oh wow! Congrats on Edward…but…um, are you sure, about older Iruka? Can you trust him?" Violet asked in a hushed tone, trying to keep her voice low enough Iruka wouldn't hear.

"I think I can trust him." I said honestly, waving away her concern.

"Okay Danny. If you trust him, I won't argue…" She said after a pause.

"It's all good Vi! Was that all you wanted to call about? I'm not too talented at walking without watching where I'm going." I joked as Kakashi reached back and steered me around an exposed tree root.

"That's it. Hey, are you gonna be in Zerlek City next week? Lia and I are going to head that way for the tournament."

"Really? Maybe I'll hook up with you guys there. I didn't really have a plan." I admitted.

"Ok! You might stop in at a gym nearby to beat the trainer there, and then the one in Zerlek City, because you need two gym wins to enter." She warned me, pushing Kiba back out of the frame when he leaned in to argue with her some more about the battle.

"Thanks for the info Violet! I'll see you then!" I thanked her, and we disconnected.

"Nee chan? We're going to battle?" Iruka asked curiously.

"Kakashi and Edward might. You'll sit with me so I'm not lonely!" I cheered, scooping him up and swinging him around.

"Why can't I battle?" He pouted, fighting back the smile I could see in his eyes at being picked up.

"Because you're still a Chibi. The people in charge wouldn't let you enter, even if I would." I explained, and he frowned.

"I need to evolve." He decided.

"Iruka, enjoy childhood! Gosh, I wish I was still your age! I miss being a kid!" I exclaimed, stopping in my tracks and setting him down.

"But…"

"But nothing," I interrupted him, "You'll evolve soon enough, just enjoy life! That's your mission, got it?"

He nodded, crossing his arms and marching off to catch up with Kakashi.

"Oi vey…" I muttered, and fell into stride with Ed.

"Don't worry," He offered, "My folks said I was the same way when I was a Chibi. He'll forget all about it soon enough, and won't care to evolve so quickly."

"It's not that simple," I sighed, and explained to him the events that had led to his joining our group.

"Bastards…" Ed growled after I finished, "How the hell could they do that?"

"I don't know Ed san, but that's where his father is, he's off looking for them. Just… don't mention it to Iruka, ok? I want him to have a good childhood, whatever's left of it."

"Don't worry, Nee san. I think he's in good hands with you." Ed smiled, and I couldn't help but melt a little inside.

"Thanks Ed!" I grinned, and looked forward to the horizon. "Let's get a move on, we want to be in the next city by tomorrow night!"

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N.

Yay, another chapter down! 13 Chapters! This one took forever to write… Ed didn't want to behave with Kakashi and Danny, and my computer overheated and shut down without autosaving the chapter, so I had to rewrite it all over again! XD;;; The next chapter won't take nearly as long. Please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami 06 aol .com without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.

Ja ne,

Tsunami


	14. Chapter 14

"_Thanks Ed!" I grinned, and looked forward to the horizon. "Let's get a move on, we want to be in the next city by tomorrow night!"_

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

I sighed, stretching my arms up above my head and cracking my back. We had been walking for what seemed like forever.

"Oi, Kashi kun, how much further to the next town?" I wasn't whining. I swear.

"Less than an hour." Was his reply. He seemed convinced I was whining because I wanted a piggy back ride. I had informed him that there was no way in the 9 levels of hell I'd ever take that ride again, but he just snorted and turned back to his book.

"But Kakashi this is so boring, let me see your book please?" I begged, holding my hands in front of me with a look of pure unadulterated, unashamed begging.

"Why should I? I'm not sure you're even old enough to read the book." Kakashi joked, holding the book just out of my reach.

"But I am too! And anyway, are you admitting that they're pervy books? Cause if you are, Im gonna take them away! You shouldn't be reading those in front of little kids!" I chided him, trying once more to snatch the elusive little orange book away. He just shoved it in a pocket on his vest and smirked.

"Onee san, I'm not a little kid!" Iruka pouted, glaring at me as he walked.

"Hai, hai. You aren't a little kid, but you _are_ a minor sweetie. And Kakashi can show self control if he wants to. I hope…" I said with a sigh, glaring at Kakashi. I forgot how much I couldn't stand children. Don't get me wrong. Iruka was a sweetheart, and I loved him to pieces. But I just _couldn't_ handle the mood swings and indignity children seemed to hold in abundance. I always told people I didn't like kids, that I didn't even like myself till I was 18, and it was true.

"Onee san, I'm a shinobi in training!" Iruka grumbled, crossing his arms and staring at Kakashi's back.

"Oh really? You're also a chibi. You're supposed to have fun!" I shot back, crossing my own arms and facing off with the pint sized bishounen.

"Training is fun." He insisted, with a less than enthusiastic tone, while he stared at the ground near my feet.

"Bull." I snorted, ignoring Kakashi's questioning look and Ed's concerned gaze, "You just don't want to admit you don't know how to have fun, huh pint size?"

A vein in his forehead pulsed, and his face turned bright red, "I'm not pint sized! And I do too know how to have fun!"

"Oh? Prove it, ochibi-chan." I teased him, leaning over to poke his forehead with a grin.

"Fine! Let's race! Just for the fun of it. Kakashi sensei, how far are we from town?" Iruka shot back, staring at Kakashi.

For his part, Kakashi just twitched at his new nickname, and shrugged, "Maaaa, about 2 miles. And don't be silly, chibi, she doesn't have the stamina to race you for that long."

Before he had finished talking I had my Ninja out of it's capsule and was handing my helmet to Ed.

"Don't count me out scarecrow." I grinned, thumbing the ignition and revving the engine to life.

"Sugoi… what's this?" Iruka asked, eyes wide as he looked at the metal monster growling in front of him.

"This is my ninja. And with it I can kick your butt in a race." I bragged. Iruka just eyed the bike distrustfully.

"Yea right. I'm a ninja. This is a hunk of metal," He scoffed, "Besides, it's too loud."

"Um… it's not a ninja in the job sense…it's just the name the manufacturer chose for it. And it's supposed to sound like that…" I explained patiently, swinging my leg over the seat and pulling it off it's kickstand.

"If you say so… I'm still going to beat you." He promised, facing the direction of town and tuning me out.

"Sure, chibi. C'mon Ed, cram the helmet on and hop on." I told him, pulling a pair of tinted sunglasses from my jacket that I kept for when I loaned a second rider my helmet.

Ed stood where he had stopped, helmet dangling in his hand. "C'mon c'mon, it won't bite, I promise!" I laughed, patting the seat. He shrugged, swinging his leg over and settling on behind me.

"Oof!" I cried, as the bike's forks bottomed out and the whole thing tipped dangerously to the left. Apparently the automail was a lot heavier than I had guessed.

"Ready, onee-san?" Iruka asked, smirking.

"Get moving pipsqueak." I laughed, and rolled on the throttle, taking off from our starting point and gaining speed quickly.

Ed didn't make a sound, to give him credit, but he did wrap his arms a little tighter around my midsection.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"No way!" Iruka pouted as he came into sight 20 minutes later. I unfortunately got a little competitive, and had taken off into high gear, leaving Iruka in the dust and nearly dropping Ed off the back.

"Gomen ne, Iruka kun…We'll go again soon and I'm sure you'll beat me!" I promised, smiling reassuringly at the small bundle of disappointment that had dropped to the ground to pout.

"Why?" He asked, staring at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Because Kakashi and your Tousan can beat me. It just…" I sighed, dreading saying it, "it just takes some training. You'll get faster, honest!"

He seemed to literally glow at the promise of being like his father, and hopped to his feet, nodding in agreement. "Hai, onee-san! Kakashi sensei, will you train me, please?" He turned to Kakashi with big begging puppy dog eyes and I couldn't help but snicker. Kakashi just sighed, snapping the book closed that he hadn't pocketed, even during the race, and nodded.

"Hai, hai, I suppose I have no choice, ne? Unless you'd prefer to be an alchemist." Kakashi snorted at the thought, and Ed twitched, hopping down off the bike and starting towards Kakashi threateningly.

"What's wrong with alchemy, huh old man?"

"Maa maa, nothing. It just isn't practical when our task is to protect Danny san, not make her a bunch of pretty little knickknacks out of dirt and wood." He teased the shorter boy, waving his hand dismissingly.

"Stop it Kakashi, Ed is an excellent fighter, even without alchemy, and you know from experience know how helpful alchemy is. So don't say stuff just to get a rise out of him." I sighed, grabbing Ed's jacket and digging my heels into the ground to try and stop him from beating Kakashi to a pulp.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Ok, so we need to beat the gym leader here and get a move on if we want to make it in time for the tournament." I decided as we wandered up the main street. After capsulating my bike and explaining to the guard at the gate why I had a chibi with me, we were let into the city and told to enjoy ourselves during our stay. The first thing we had done was get lunch, as the sun was already high in the sky, and Ed and mine's stomachs were growling something fierce.

After nearly fainting from the bill, and realizing that if I wanted to catch more bishounen, and make sure they didn't starve, we would definitely have start using the monster feature that was built into my dex, we headed back out, and were deciding what needed to be done.

"Ne, if we're going to start using the monster chip, you should pick up some potions from one of the shops here. Or capture a healer." Kakashi said from behind his book.

"Worried you'll get hurt, Kashi-kun?" I teased as I spun on my heel, changing directions and heading towards the general store on the other side of the street.

"More like you'll get hurt." He fired back without missing a beat.

"Oi… for your information I won lots of fist fights back home, and you weren't there to protect me, so shush your face." I poked him in the forehead, snatching at his book in the process. Once again he held it just out of my reach, so I just shrugged and skipped through the door while I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Ooof!" Of course, maybe I should have focused on making sure there was nobody coming _out_ of the store at the same time…

"Are you ok?" I asked the boy sprawled out in the entrance. He just nodded, rubbing the spot on his chest where my shoulder dug in and scrambling to his feet. "I'm so sorry! I should have been paying more attention to where I was going!"

He held his hand up to stop my apology and laughed, "Naw, it's all good miss. I wasn't paying much more attention than you were, so it's as much my fault as it is yours." He grinned, and accepted the bag that his Rouge bishoujo had snatched out of his hands just before he hit the floor.

"Still… I feel bad. How about I treat you to lunch after I go against the gym trainer here?" I offered, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment.

"Well shoot, if you're sure, I suppose that'd be cool." He smiled, and pointed up the street to a dinner a few blocks away, "How about there? I'll be at the gym too, so we'll go once you're finished."

"Sounds good! I'm Danny by the way." I stuck my hand out, and he took it with a smile, kneeling to kiss the back of it. His Rouge sighed, rolling her eyes and picking him up by the back of his shirt, while Kakashi cracked his knuckles threateningly and Ed just laughed.

"What a coincidence, my name is Danny too… although I'm pretty sure we spell the long versions differently," He said with a wink, "I'll see you a little later!"

With that, the other trainer was out the door, his bishoujo berating him about scaring poor trainers all the way.

"Aiya….ok…Ed?" Ed stopped laughing long enough to look up at me, "Since Kakashi is now useless as lookout, you're in charge of making sure I don't bowl over weirdos, ne?"

"Sure thing." He snorted, slapping Kakashi on the back as he passed him, worming his way past me and into the store.

"Useless?" Kakashi asked me, eye full of fake hurt.

"Maaah, if you hadn't been so busy protecting your precious book, my poor hand would still be unsullied." I grinned, poking his forehead again and, making sure nobody else was in my way, waltzed into the store and over to the shelves labeled 'First Aid'.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

After spending what little gold I had left on potions and an alchemy book Ed had found and refused to put down, we found ourselves in front of the gym.

"So, how do these battles work?" I finally asked, looking in the windows at the trainers and bishis coming and going between all the different rooms.

"Usually it's a one on one or three on three battle between you and the other trainer. It's the same as the time I battled with that other girl's Mustang." Kakashi said.

Ed perked up, looking at us curiously. "You fought a Mustang-teme? Tell me you kicked his ass?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly, leading the way in the building with Ed following, demanding a play by play of the Colonel's defeat.

"Aiya…. Iruka, we surrounded by weirdoes, huh?" I sighed, scooping the chibi up and following the other two inside.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Kakashi and Ed had already been directed to where the gym trainer would be battling, with the promise that the receptionist would let him know we were there, so I followed them into a large room, laid out just like the one that we had been in the last time.

"Hey Danny! Good to see ya! You all ready to battle the gym leader?" I flinched at hearing Other Danny's voice, turning to see him sauntering in the room with his Rouge and a Katara from the Avatar : The Last Airbender series following him.

"Oh, hey Danny. Yea, we're just waiting for him to show up." I said. He just smiled, stepping purposefully to the other side of the room, standing in the trainer area and nodding to his Katara who stepped out into the arena.

"Well, he's here, so let's get started." He laughed at my shocked expression, his Rouge just shaking her head and snorting.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Bishi Dex

Rouge – A Bishoujo from the X-Men territory, she has the ability to take any other bishi's powers for her own through skin to skin contact. She's very protective of her trainer, but in San mode, is very emotional, as she can not yet control the powers that she takes from others and must wear all encompassing clothing to protect others from her touch. Once she evolves to Sama, she is able to recall any power she's ever used at any time, and has better control over her own power.

Katara – A waterbender Bishoujo from the Avatar-verse, she's very stubborn and won't take no for an answer once she's set her mind to something. She is a fairly balanced Bishoujo in that she is both a healer and a fighter, and is very motherly towards her trainer and other bishis.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N. I'm so sorry, this chapter absolutely did not want to be written. Hopefully the next one will be easier XD

Once again, if you'd like to be a trainer, please send me an email at sontsunami 06 aol .com without all the spaces, and let me know the name, appearance, age, how long in the bishi world, what bishis and how they interact. Please don't leave that info in a review, as the last time I wrote a story that let people create their own characters, it was removed because reviews aren't supposed to be used like that I guess.

Ja ne,

Tsunami


	15. Chapter 15

_"Oh, hey Danny. Yea, we're just waiting for him to show up." I said. He just smiled, stepping purposefully to the other side of the room, standing in the trainer area and nodding to his Katara who stepped out into the arena._

_"Well, he's here, so let's get started." He laughed at my shocked expression, his Rouge just shaking her head and snorting._

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

I just refrained from dropping my jaw when Danny stepped into the ring, pinching my thigh discretely for good measure. It hurt. Quite a bit. Guess it really was just a small world after all.

Before I had even got a chance to turn to my bishounen, Kakashi sauntered out into the middle of the ring, book open and right up to his nose.

"Oi, teme!" Ed hollered, rolling up his sleeves and making to follow him, that telltale vein pulsing in his forehead. I snagged his jacket on the way by, and shook my head.

"As much as that's really annoying, and rest assured we're going to have a nice long chat about waiting our turn when this is over, he's better matched for Katara. If it'd been Rouge, you'd have been my first choice, no doubt whatsoever. Just relax Ed, 'Kashi's got this." Ed shot me a vaguely hurt look as he stomped off to stand with Iruka, arms crossed over his chest and looking anywhere but at the ring. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose and counting to ten.

"You okay over there Danny-chan?" Danny called from across the room. I raised my free hand, waving him on. This day was getting more and more crazy by the minute. I'm babysitting a bunch of men-children who wanted to fight with girls. Could my life get any weirder?

"I consent to fight for Danny until I am called back or knocked unconscious." Katara dutifully intoned, resting one hand on her water skin and striking up a beginning stance with her other arm crossed over her torso and raised just above the nozzle.

"I consent to fight for Danielle-san until I am called back or knocked unconscious." Kakashi muttered, waving one hand over top of his book and thumbing a page over. Katara's eye twitched, and her hands tensed into fists, sloshing a bit of water out onto the floor. Apparently she didn't take kindly to being brushed off like that. Couldn't blame her, I suppose. It irked me when he did that sometimes, too.

"Well, what are ya'll waitin for? Get to it!" Rouge shouted, raising her hand and dropping it like a flag at the races.

Off like a shot, Katara used her water bending to surf across the gym towards Kakashi, who didn't bother to put down his book.

"C'mon 'Kashi, at least _pretend_ you give a rats ass about this battle!" I complained, when he stepped aside with no effort. Katara stopped short, whipping around to glare at him.

The water tribe girl did a few of those enviably graceful motions with her arms, sending a whip of water hurtling towards the scarecrow's head, but he sunk into the floor with a flick of his hand, and popped up behind Katara. I opened my mouth to warn him, but he'd already wrapped one hand around Katara's water skin. The hand was instantly covered in a thick casing of ice, that expanded and grew, climbing up his arm and over his shoulder.

"He's got this, huh? I coulda figured out not to touch the girl's water bottle." Ed snorted, stretching his arms over his head with a slight whine of gears and servos.

"Shush it, Ed. No need to be a know-it-all." I said, but my heart wasn't in the reprimand, as I chewed my thumb nail and mentally prodded Kakashi into figuring out some way out of this mess.

He tugged a few times, succeeding in jerking Katara's hip, but nothing more. With a wicked grin that could be seen even through his mask, he planted his feet, and jerked his arm, hard. Katara, attached as she was, naturally followed the motion, stumbling out of her protective ring of water and breaking the contact with his arm as she dropped to her hands and knees on the floor.

Kakashi was already going through the motions for the water dragon jutsu.

"No no no!" I shouted, waving my hands over my head and bouncing up on the balls of my feet, but it was too late. Katara shot to her feet, arms raised stiffly over her head, and the water that had been accumulating over Kakashi's head came crashing down in the form of ice needles as long as the ninja was tall, pinning into the floor all around him and leaving him trapped. "She's a water bender you dolt! Don't give her more ammo!" I shrieked. The only thing that kept me from crossing the trainers box into the ring and charging down Katara myself was the automail hand Ed wound casually into the back of my shirt.

Katara smirked, sauntering closer to the man now that he was immobilized. "Not so tough, are you? That'll teach you to underestimate the Water Tribe!" He stared at her, defiant, silent. She paused a few steps from him, tilting her head, as if something looked off about the whole thing, then shrieked when hands flew up from the ground beneath her, and tugged her down to her chin in the mud bubbling up from under the broken concrete.

The Kakashi in the ice disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the real one appeared, crouching down in front of Katara, eye still firmly locked on his Icha Icha book.

She jerked to and fro, the little bits of hair from her trademark 'hair loopies' coming undone as her composure frayed. With a few motions of his hand, the mud solidified to rock, all traces of water evaporating into the suddenly super heated air of the gym.

We all leaned forward, Danny included, as the girl continued to silently struggle. Kakashi, for his part, just turned a page, and snickered at whatever passage he was currently reading.

"Let me out." She finally demanded, stilling and slumping as much as she could encased in the rock as she was.

"Nope." Kakashi's response was infuriatingly cheerful, and a flush rose high up on Katara's cheeks.

"I'm not giving up." She declared, twisting and turning. Danny watched for a moment, before shaking his head and pulling out a bishi-ball.

"C'mon back, Katara, you did all you could do." He said with a sigh, and Katara disappeared in a flash of light and a final oath.

"We won?" I asked, turning to look at Ed. He rolled his eyes and nodded. "We won? We won! You did it 'Kashi-kun! We won!" I whooped, rushing out into the ring and crashing headlong into the ninja. He took the attack good naturedly and didn't substitute himself, wrapping the hand not clinging to his paperback around my shoulders to steady me on my feet.

"You doubted me?" He asked, mock hurt in his voice.

"A little…giving her all that water from that jutsu seemed a bit boneheaded to me." I admitted, grinning up at him.

"Mah, gotta let her feel like she accomplished something." Kakashi shrugged, reaching around me to turn another page. Deftly, I reached behind my back, snatching the paperback and tearing off to Danny's end of the gym with my prize held aloft.

"I win I win I win! S-U-C-C-E-S-S that's the way you spell success!" I sing-songed, adding a little hip wiggle and a stuck out tongue to the routine for good measure.

"Um…Danny-chan?" Danny coughed, and pointed a finger sheepishly at the book I held aloft. Looking up, I stared into the eyes of a cross looking little pug dressed in a blue vest with a Konoha leaf headband tied around his head.

"Pakkun!" I shrieked, hugging the little dog close with as girly a squeal as I could manage.

Kakashi sidled up next to me, and smoothly rescued his summon from my grasp, setting the little guy down on all four paws and patting his head for good measure. The book was nowhere to be seen, safely tucked away for another day.

"Ahh..hehe, congratulations, Danny-chan." Other Danny offered with a weak smile, holding out his Dex.

"Huh? Oh, thanks!" I laughed, pulling out my own and holding it up within IR port distance. A beep and a flashing light next to the camera lens indicated the transfer was complete. Opening the lid, the screen showed 'Funds Received' with the number of gold in my account having gone way up. My eyebrows climbed right up into my hairline at the sight of the number, and I shook my head, shoving my Dex back in his direction. "Oh no, no no no, that's way too much, I can't take that!" I argued, but he waved me off with a smile.

"I'm a gym leader, Danny-chan! It's standard, don't worry about it. It would have been more if we'd done a three on three battle, but you only had your Ed and Kakashi." Iruka protested over this, but Ed held him back, rolling his eyes and pinning the kid to his side with his flesh arm. I had noticed he was careful to handle the chibi on his left side, the side with the non-automail hand, as much as possible.

"If you're sure…" I sighed, tapping the accept button on my Dex and finalizing the transfer. A new screen popped up, titled 'Gym Badges'. Under it sat the image of a lone winners badge, in the shape of a leaf. Tapping the image brought up information about the fight, listing the trainers and the participants.

"So, are you going to stay in town for a while?" The other trainer asked, stepping just a bit closer. Stepping back in a mirror of his movements, I shook my head and jerked a thumb in the direction of Ed and Iruka.

"Naw, just stopped in town to pick up a wrench we needed for Ed-kun. We're heading back out as soon as I finish stocking up." I explained. Kakashi had all but plastered himself to my side the moment I became uncomfortable with the other trainer, but I subtly pushed him away. I didn't want to insult the poor guy. I just didn't want him in my personal bubble was all.

"That's too bad. It would have been nice to get some decent training in. the challenges have been slow lately." Danny complained.

"I'm real sorry. This was sort of an unscheduled detour. But thanks for the battle, I needed the badge!" I smiled, trying to cheer him up a bit.

"It's not your fault. The competitive nature of this place comes and goes as tournaments occur around the world. Say, can I take a rain check on our lunch though? I'm going to take Katara back to our place so she can get a potion and rest up. I don't think she'd like being around your Kakashi all that much right now."

"Sure, I'll hit you up when I'm back in town!" I promised, already edging for the door. He waved goodbye, and I rushed Ed and Iruka out in front of me, Kakashi following close behind. "Let's get that wrench I totally forgot about, and get the heck outta here!" I mumbled, pushing Ed between the shoulder blades to prod him into a faster pace.

"I'm goin, I'm goin. Keep your pants on, lady." He complained, opening the doors to the gym and holding them open for me.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N. Well….I feel like a massive failure. A marriage and a divorce, that's all it took to kick me back into gear this time…I am so so so so so so so sorry for letting this languish like it has. I've already got the next chapter started, and I'm optimistic to have it out in the next few days! I've missed these guys, and it's refreshing to get back into this plot with a clear head, so watch out!


	16. Chapter 16

_"I'm goin, I'm goin. Keep your pants on, lady." He complained, opening the doors to the gym and holding them open for me._

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A quick stop by the hardware store netted us the wrench needed for Ed's repairs. Another 20 minutes of me pulling and yanking on Ed, whohad gotten caught up in a posturing war with an older Ed and a Winry, and we were on our way back out of town.

"I could have taken him, Onee-san." Ed grumbled, pouting at the back of our little procession. Kakashi walked ahead, once again preoccupied with his book. I had no doubt he heard our conversation, and was 100% aware of our surroundings, but he could have fooled most anybody with how engrossed he seemed. Iruka was all but glued to my side, only drifting away to stab at an imaginary foe with his kunai every now and again. Ed drug his feet behind us, grumbling and muttering to anyone who would listen. Which was pretty much just me.

"Ed, we were _not_ going to start a battle in the middle of a hardware store." I said exasperatedly, for what felt like the hundredth time since we'd left town.

Iruka leapt out once more, slashing out at yet another shadow monster. This time, however, he faltered, just the slightest bit. That trip up sent him tumbling into Ed, who pitched forward with a startled yelp. I had turned at the noise, just in time to catch Ed mid fall, and was sent sprawling to the ground beneath him.

"Oof!" Air left my lungs in a gasp as Ed's metal plated shoulder drove into my midsection. Iruka, pinned as he was under Ed's legs, pushed and pulled and clawed his way out from under the pile of tangled limbs with a dirty, sweaty sort of grin on his face.

"I'm sorry, Danny-onee-chan." Iruka all but giggled, trying to roll Ed off of me. Between the two of us, we heaved him to the side, and I stumbled back to my feet coughing and grasping at my ribs.

"Ed, you weigh a ton!" I groaned, offering the dazed alchemist a hand up.

"Not my fault the Rockabells can't make a lightweight piece of automail." He grumbled, dusting off his front and glaring at Iruka.

The chibi hid behind my legs and stuck his tongue out at Ed with a grin still plastered across his face.

"Sure they could, Ed…but then it'd just be a prosthetic. It wouldn't be automail, and you wouldn't have such brilliant motor skills." I argued, poking his arm. I jerked back when he flexed, pinching my finger between two sliding plates. "Ouch." I grinned, sticking the finger in my mouth and sucking on it like that magically made pain disappear.

"So Danny-onee-san, why didn't we stay in town tonight?" Ed asked after I'd finished nursing my 'wound'.

I shrugged, picking up the pace to catch up with Kakashi. "Why would we?" I tossed over my shoulder at the blond, trying in vain to peer over Kakashi's shoulder at the little orange book.

"I dunno…I always thought girls preferred nice soft beds and warm showers to cold ground and icy streams?" Ed offered, trotting after us.

"That's stereotypical Edo," I clucked, wagging my finger in his face, "Not true at all, no sirree! Some guys don't like to camp out either. But I hate the city."

"Why's that, Onee-chan?" Iruka asked, reaching up and slipping his hand into mine.

"Ahh…well," I scratched the side of my nose with my free hand, completely done in by those big, innocent eyes, "I grew up on a farm, 'Ruka…but my mom moved us to the city when I was about 10. Bad things happened after that. But I couldn't go back to the farm, I was stuck where we were."

Iruka hugged my leg, burying his face into my jeans. "I'm sorry bad things happened to you Onee-chan."

"It's not your fault 'Ruka-chibi… don't feel bad for me. After all, look where I am now!" I plastered on a grin, and swooped him up to spin in a circle, "I'm out in the wide open, surrounded by people I love! What could be better?" Setting the giggling chibi back on his feet, I caught Ed's eye, and he was quick to hide the look of pity on his face. I just shot him a small smile, shrugging my shoulders in a 'what can you do?' fashion.

The moment of silence stretched on awkwardly, and I groaned, shrugging my shoulders under the warmth of my leather jacket.

"It's getting warmer out, isn't it, guys?" I asked, unzipping the coat and fanning the edges to try and get a cool breeze circulating. The outside air wasn't oppressively warm, but the jacket was heavy, and it got warm fast. But this was the first day since coming to the bishi world that I'd had a problem with it.

"Take off the jacket, Danny-kun, that would help." Kakashi sniggered, snatching one lapel with his free hand and tugging at it.

"Ri~ight, perv. You just want me to take something off, huh?" I laughed, swatting his hand away. He wiggled his fingers in my face, giving me a crescent eyed grin.

"You always want to read my books, I thought maybe you were just interested in getting some ideas of your own, ne, Danny-kun?" He was teasing, but I could still feel the blush rising in my cheeks.

"Yea, yea….in your dreams, 'Kashi-kun." I laughed, shrugging out of the jacket and tossing it at him. He caught it and swung it back at me without missing a beat, catching me in the face. I flailed under the heavy jacket for a minute before finding my way free, and stuffing it into my backpack.

I raised my arms away from my sides, and sighed in contentment. The air felt great!

"Onee-chan, what's that?" Iruka asked, tugging at the hem of my tanktop.

"Hmm? What's what, 'Ruka?" I asked, distracted by the breeze.

"You have drawings on your arms, Nee-chan." He was poking at my upper arm, and I turned to look at what he was referring to.

"Oh! They're tattoos, 'Ruka. They're permanent."

"How?" I hung my head. This was gonna be one of those twenty questions games kids loved to play, I could just feel it.

"Um…the artist uses a machine with needles in it to put ink under the top layers of skin…then when it heals, scars form around the ink so it stays put. I think. I'm not honestly sure about the technical bits, 'Ruka, I just get them done, I'm not a tattoo artist myself." I tried to explain. His face scrunched up at the mention of needles.

"But…don't they hurt?" He asked.

"Yep. But it's not all that bad. If you pick a design you love, or one that's got special meaning to you, it's worth the pain." I answered honestly, swinging him up to balance on my hip, so we could walk and talk. Ed was close behind me, inspecting the tattoos and listening to my explanations intently. Kakashi had paused to wait for us, and was listening with half an ear. Every so often, he'd sneak a glance from the corner of his eye.

"What do they mean, then, nee-chan?" Iruka asked, tracing the wolf on my right arm.

"Well, that one's to commemorate my grandma. See, the wolf always reminds me of her, 'cause she was so fiercely protective of all of us, me and my mom and my siblings. The dates are her birthday and the day she passed away. The ribbon, well…people use these ribbons in bunches of different colors back home, to symbolize support for different things. This is the one for the problems she had, that made her sick and took her away from us. The flowers and vines are just things from her garden. So I've always got pieces of her with me, no matter where I go." I explained, as he traced the vines around my arm and down over my elbow.

Iruka looked at me with those big, sad looking eyes again, and then threw his arms around my neck, burying his face in my shoulder.

"I'm sorry your obaa-san passed away, nee-chan." He mumbled into my shirt.

"S'not your fault, 'Ruka. She was real sick, and it was better that way," I muttered back, rubbing his back and blinking away a few tears that had sprung up during my story. This had happened years ago, but I still missed the crazy old woman like nobody's business.

I jumped when I felt a hand clamp down on my free shoulder, turning to look quizzically at Ed. He just squeezed, giving me a sympathetic grin. I raised the hand not supporting Iruka, and squeezed his hand in thanks.

"Oi, kid, stop fussing over that one, she's got loads more to ask about, they can't all be sad!" Ed said, poking Iruka's cheek in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"She does?" He asked, rubbing at his face with one sleeve, and peering over my shoulder at whatever Ed was pointing at. "You have wings!" He cheered, all but crawling up onto my shoulder for a better look.

"I've got a whole tree back there, Iruka." I laughed, letting Ed pick him up and set him back on the path.

"Really?" He was wide eyed, tugging at my shirt again.

"Really. I got real heavy into tattooing, after I turned eighteen, before I had to get my own place and pay bills and stuff. I blame my brother for getting me hooked." I joked, kneeling down and tugging the back of my shirt up. This time, even Ed had to trace the lines of ink, mapping out the picture that spanned my back.

"What's this for? You said things had meaning, right?" Iruka asked.

"Well, the wings are my family tree. Each separate twig feather is for an important person in my family. My brother and sister, my mom, grandma and grandpa, and a couple of cousins I was best friends with." The wings were stylized, branches instead of feathers, growing out of my shoulder blades. Iruka used a finger to count off the 'feathers' as I listed off people.

"And the tree?" Kakashi prompted this, and I looked up in shock, seeing him leaning over with Ed to study the art on my back.

"That's Yggdrasil. The world tree in Norse mythology. Way long story behind that. But it's supposed to be that all the nine worlds are connected to one another by this great big tree, who's roots run right down to the bottom of the universe." I was editing the story heavily, to avoid going into a huge long story about Thor and Loki and Odin and Ragnarok and the like.

"Where's our world?" Iruka asked, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't think the Norse gods knew about the bishi world, Iruka. It's not on there. Sorry." He seemed to accept this easily enough, tugging my shirt down out of my hands and smoothing it over my back.

"What else have you got?" the chibi demanded, circling me and eyeing the rest of my pieces.

"Uh-uh. Why don't we save them, and I can tell you some more _after_ we set up camp tonight?" I grinned, ruffling his ponytail. He straightened it with a scrunched up face, pouting.

"So sweet. But I think there'll be a change of plans." We all whipped around at the sound of the voice, coming from the trees to the west of the road.

"Who's there?" I demanded, pulling Iruka up against my side and wrapping an arm protectively around his shoulders.

"Easy missy, just doin' my job. Pass over the runt, and I'll be on my way, no harm, no foul." A man, looking to be no older than me, stepped out of the shadows, hands held out in supplication, an easy smirk on his face. Kakashi and Ed had both stepped in front of us by this point, Kakashi with a kunai in hand, Ed ripping through his sleeve and glove with a transmuted automail blade.

"You seriously think that'd work? Just ask nicely and you'll get a chibi?" I demanded, stomping my foot. My free hand was creeping towards my dex, instinct warning me to get the authorities.

"Not really, but I had to try." He sighed, running one hand through his short red hair. "Might as well get to it then. Now, Naraku!" Before I could turn to see, something shoved at me from behind, sending me sprawling into the dirt with a curse.

"Danny-nee-chan!" Iruka shouted, and his grip on my shirt disappeared as he was wrenched up into the air, held fast in the arms of a Kagura. She floated above us on a giant feather, clinging desperately to the struggling bundle of Chibi doing his best to crawl out of her arms and over the edge.

"Ruka! Kakashi, Iruka!" I shrieked, clawing at the dirt as a tentacle wrapped around my ankle, dragging me further from the demoness and her prey.

Kakashi let fly a handful of kunai, but Kagura deflected them all with a swipe of her fan, nearly dropping the weapon when Iruka planted a foot under her chin and pushed away.

"Brat, get back here!" She snarled, yanking at his shirt and wrapping a clawed hand into his hair.

"Don't you lay a hand on him!" I shouted, rolling over to claw at the appendage wrapped around my leg. Naraku hissed, flinging me up into the air. "Holy crap!" I shrieked, the blood rushing instantly to my head and my vision tinting grey around the edges.

Shockingly, the half demon deposited me into a tree, the tentacle unwinding from my leg and disappearing from sight.

"Wha?" I clung to the branch while my brain sloshed around, the ground beneath me swimming in and out of focus.

"Onee-san, are you okay?" Ed shouted, and I blinked, turning to see him hacking and slashing at a dozen more of the tentacles. Naraku reproduced them as fast as Ed cut them down, and so he was kept constantly on the defensive, backed up into the tree line, nearly out of view.

"Yea, Edo, I'm okay…just stuck. Look out!" He rolled to the side, a tentacle ripping through the hem of his duster.

"Worry 'bout yourself, baka!" He shouted back to me, clapping his hands together and pressing them flat to the dirt. A wall burst from the ground, rising up in between us and Naraku, but the tentacles were already bashing away at the rock, chipping through to the other side.

Kakashi appeared on top of the wall, hands blurring together as he moved rapid-fire through a set of seals. From here, I couldn't hear what he said, but I could see clear as day when he brought his hand up to his face, and a massive fireball erupted between the two battling bishounen.

Kagura had landed by now, by who I could only assume was her trainer, and held Iruka tightly against her legs, one hand still buried in his hair. Even from here I could see the tears, frustration or pain, it didn't matter at this point.

"To hell with this." I muttered, and dropped out of the tree. Hitting the ground in a tuck and roll, I sprang to my feet with a wince, both knees protesting the unfair treatment. "I'm too young to say I'm getting too old for this!" I groaned, limping towards Ed's wall. By this point, the tentacles had broken through and tore it down into a crumbled mess across the road, but the large chunks of rock made good cover as kunai and tentacles flew overhead.

Kagura saw me coming as I slipped behind Kakashi, snagging the kunai he pressed sight unseen into my hand. She took to the skies once more, floating just out of reach a few measly feet over my head. Changing course, I charged headlong at the trainer instead.

"Give me back Iruka!" I howled, but before I got close, Naraku had lifted the red head up with another of those tentacles, and deposited him next to Kagura on the floating feather.

"Nee-chan!" That one utterance was the only warning I had as my knees buckled, the ground exploding under my feet, and sending me shooting up into the sky. Ed had given me a boost on one of his pillars, and I took advantage of the momentum to tackle Kagura, smashing head first into the bishoujo. The kunai tore through her kimono and dropped out of my hand as the force took us both right over the other side. Iruka grabbed hold of me, clinging tight as we fell.

The air burst from my lungs as we tumbled through the brush, coming to a stop with my back against a tree. Iruka was still clinging to my shirt, both fists buried in the dirty fabric, tears streaking his cheeks.

"Hey, 'Ruka-kun, we're okay. Shhh." I soothed the child, brushing leaves and grass from his sloppy ponytail.

"I wouldn't say that just yet." The red headed trainer stood in front of me, hand held out impatiently, "Give me the little brat, or else your bishounen are done for."

Ed had broken down the pillar as we fell, burying Kagura, and Kakashi was thoroughly tied up dealing with Naraku. So I did the only sensible thing there was to do. Pulling both knees up as close to my chest as I could get with Iruka in the way, I kicked out, catching him dead on and sending him tumbling to the dirt with me. Air escaped in a high pitched whine as he curled up on himself with his back to the fight.

"Kakashi, let's get out of here!" I shouted, hobbling to my feet and limping back towards my bishounen.

He turned, dodging another of Naraku's attacks, and scooped me up, taking to the trees. Despite Ed's protests, I called him back into his ball as Kakashi took off. Iruka clung to me, while I latched onto Kakashi's flak jacket, risking a peak over his shoulder.

Naraku stood amidst the destruction, staring passively at us. He was quickly swallowed up into the foliage as Kakashi pushed deeper and deeper into the woods.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Bishi-dex

Winry Rockabell – A F.M.A. bishoujo, highly skilled with mechanics, she's a natural companion to Edward Elric bishounen for her use as an automail technician. Prone to fits of violent temper, it is highly recommended to keep all wrenches out of reach unless work needs to be done.

Naraku – A half demon bishounen from the InuYasha territory, it's said he was once human, but now no more than an amalgamation of the parts he harvests from other demons. This bishounen is conniving and cunning, ruthless in his endeavor to achieve his goals. It is not advised for a rookie trainer to attempt capture of a Naraki bishounen.

Kagura – An InuYasha bishoujo, she is actually a 'detachment' from a Naraku bishounen. A wind sorceress, she is able to manipulate the wind into deadly blades, animate the dead, or float, using the feather charms decorating her hair. In the wild, most Kagura bishoujo are opposed to their Naraku creators. However, if a Kagura bishoujo is created by a captured Naraku who's temper and goals are of a mild manner, it is possible for these two to get along and work together.

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N. Whew! Poor 'Ruka-chan, he just can't catch a break, can he? I hope that this battle scene came out okay, I'm not very good at getting the words out. It always looks so much more dynamic in my head! ^_^;

Thanks everyone, for the views, and thank you thank you thank you Lady Demoonica Darkmoon for your kind review! ::bows profusely::

I have a good deal of the next chapter already written, and there'll be a lot explained, but this seemed like a good stopping point. So keep an eye out, the next chapter should be up by this weekend at the latest!

As always, if you want to have a trainer appear in the story, feel free to send me a bio! Give me the trainer's name, age, appearance, personality, how long they've been in the bishi world, what bishi they have, what stage the bishi is, and how the bishis interact with you and each other.

Tsunami


	17. Chapter 17

_Naraku stood amidst the destruction, staring passively at us. He was quickly swallowed up into the foliage as Kakashi pushed deeper and deeper into the woods._

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

"Ow…Kakashi, please, can we stop?" He'd kept up his brutal pace in the trees for the last twenty minutes, pausing only to listen for sounds of pursuit, and my entire body was rising up in revolt. My knees were on fire, my back hurt, the dozens of scratches from rolling around in the brush burned, and my stomach was making a valiant attempt at escaping up my throat.

He came to a screeching halt at my request, stock still and balanced on a precariously thin branch as he watched and listened. Then, with no warning, he stepped off, sending my stomach right back up into my throat. Landing in a crouch, he set me on my feet and helped Iruka out of my arms.

I dropped boneless to the ground as soon as Iruka was clear, and let out a pathetic groan.

"Danny-onee-san?" Iruka asked tearfully, kneeling next to me. I didn't answer, gathering him up in my arms and pulling him in for a hug.

Kakashi stared down at me, anger apparent in his one visible eye.

"What?" I asked, propping myself up with another groan.

"…" He opened his mouth to say something, and then, seeming to think better of it, shook his head, "Might want to let the chibi out." With that, he wandered off. Not out of sight, but away from us none the less.

"Oh crap, Ed!" I panicked, fumbling with Ed's bishi-ball. The blond burst out from the hazy red light with anger all over his face. Spinning on his heel, as soon as he was sure we were safe, he turned to face me.

"Baka trainer!" He growled, dropping heavily to one knee and jerking me around while he inspected for damage.

"Huh? What'd I do?" I demanded, yanking out of his grasp and glaring at him.

"You should have left the fighting to us!" He shouted, one eye twitching as he grabbed my shoulders, trying in vain to shake some sense into me.

"Hands off, Ed." I warned, leaning back and returning his glare.

"You could have been hurt." He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at me. His automail arm whined.

"And you weren't?" I pointed out, "Look, that Naraku caught me off guard, but he never hurt me. He just tried to sideline me. Any damage I got was my own fault. You were both tied up; I couldn't let that Kagura disappear with 'Ruka."

"Naraku couldn't hurt you, not intentionally. It's against the rules. Kagura, on the other hand, could have done some serious damage. You went after her and her trainer. That's a loophole. And that trainer could have done anything." Kakashi spoke up, still on the far side of our tiny clearing.

"But he didn't. Kakashi, I can take care of myself-" I began, absolutely boiling for a fight.

"Not against our kind!" He exploded, turning to face me for the 1st time since he sat me down, "You're a trainer. You stay back. We fight for you. That's how it works!"

"Do NOT pull that on me, Hatake Kakashi." I struggled to my feet, adopting the angry mother stance with one hand on my hip, finger pointed in his face, "You listen to me. Bishi battles, I will gladly leave to you. I don't pretend I'm as strong as you, I'm not suicidal. But I've taken care of my own fights my whole life. And that wasn't a bishi battle. That was someone with the very real intent to kidnap small child for who knows what purpose. I'm not going to just stand around and wait for things to fall into place."

Kakashi opened his mouth to argue, but I stamped my foot, "Uh-uh. You had your turn to yell at me, now you just listen. We are partners. Period. If I think you need help, I'll jump right into the thick of it all. That's what friends do for each other. If you don't like it, then we have a problem."

He didn't respond, just staring at me.

"What?" I asked, temper still high.

"Can you stop pointing at me?" He finally asked, tapping at the finger still stuck squarely under his nose.

"Oh. Sorry." I mumbled, leaning back against the tree with a sigh, "You piss me off sometimes, you know that, Hatake?"

"Me? I'm not the one swan diving out of a tree into the middle of a fight." Kakashi snorted.

"Or taking flying leap at a demoness in midair." Ed supplied helpfully.

"Yuk it up you two. Just say 'Thank you Danny, for being so awesome.' And get it over with, mkay?" Ed laughed, pulling me into a hug.

"You're one crazy trainer." He chuckled, squeezing tight around my shoulders.

"Ow. Too tight, Edo." I giggled, squirming in his grip.

"Oh, sorry, hang on a sec." He tugged at his automail arm, cursing and swearing. Kakashi finally planted one foot on his hip and yanked, pulling the arm straight and freeing me.

"You need the tools, Ed?" I asked, rubbing my shoulder. He nodded, fiddling with a few plates distractedly. Rummaging through my backpack, I came away with the handful of assorted tools, and set them down next to him on the ground.

"Thanks." He reached blindly for one, and went to work on his shoulder without any further preamble.

I took that as my cue to leave him alone, and set about putting together a fire and some food.

"You should probably let the safety department know about this, Danny-san." Kakashi suggested, taking the sticks I'd been rubbing together for the past ten minutes, and starting the fire himself. I nodded, sitting on a rock, realizing that my hands were shaking like mad. "Danny-san?"

"I'm fine…just…fine." I managed, pulling my backpack into my lap and making a show of searching for my Dex.

"Danny-san." Kakashi knelt in front of me, eye to eye, and took the newly found Dex from me.

"Huh?" I reached for the device, but he held it out of reach behind his back.

"You did good. You shouldn't have fought at all. But you did good. You kept your head when it counted. If you have a moment of weakness after all is said and done, we aren't going to judge you for it." Kakashi said softly, and for a moment, in my mind's eye, I could see him saying something similar to Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto after their first real fight.

"I'm okay Kakashi, I promise…just an adrenaline crash, that's all. I hurt, and I'm tired. Just need some food in me!" I grinned, shaking it off and leaning over him to snatch my Dex away.

A quick call to the BWSD netted me the promise that someone would be by soon to take my statement and look into the 'accusation'. Pfft, accusation? My knees scream more than just accusation, all by themselves.

Kakashi had stepped away during my brief conversation, and had reheated some food left over from dinner. Seeing that food was being taken care of, I wandered away, checking on the others.

"You need any help?" I asked, crouching next to Edward. He was sitting with his back braced against a tree, legs crossed, tightening a screw or a bolt or something on his automail arm.

"No thanks." He mumbled, dropping the wrench to the ground by his knee.

"Oh. Ok. Well, if you need any help, just let me know… I'm not completely useless. I may not know automail, but I do all my own work on my bike, and on my car when I was back home. And my grandpa used to teach me all sorts of stuff about engines, and electrical work and stuff. Anyway, dinner'll be ready soon." I finished with a smile, standing and turning back to the fire.

Before I could walk away, I felt a tapping against my shin. Turning back to see what it was, Ed was facing away from me, scratching his cheek with his automail hand, his flesh hand tapping out a rhythm against my shin with the wrench.

"Can't really reach the one back here, Winry always did it for me." He muttered, the faintest hint of a blush coloring his cheeks.

"I've got it." I grinned, kneeling and accepting the proffered wrench. He pointed out the bolt needed, and we settled into a silence while I figured out the best way to reach it between the shifting plates.

"There you go. Anything else?" Ed flexed his fingers a few times, rotating his arm.

"Naw, I think that'll take care of it for now." He finally said, handing me back the tools, "Thanks Onee-chan."

"Dinner's ready!" Iruka called from his spot at Kakashi's side, snatching a bowl up from the older shinobi before he was finished filling it.

"Oi." Kakashi protested, but Iruka was already slurping down soup with a happy sigh.

"Relax, Kakashi," I laughed, slinging an arm over his shoulder and trying to sneak his book out of his pocket. He slapped my hand away with a halfhearted glare, passing a bowl of soup back to me. "We okay?" I asked, accepting the bowl.

He considered for a minute, then shrugged, handing Ed a bowl and filling his own.

"Yea. We're okay."

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A.N. Sorry it's not as long. I'm stuck on the next bit, so I doubt the next update will be quite as quick as these last few. I won't drop off the face of the earth for a few years this time, I swear!

As always, if you want to have a trainer appear in the story, feel free to send me a bio! Give me the trainer's name, age, appearance, personality, how long they've been in the bishi world, what bishi they have, what stage the bishi is, and how the bishis interact with you and each other.

Reviews are always appreciated and squee'd over fondly!

Tsunami


	18. Chapter 18

"_We okay?" I asked, accepting the bowl._

_He considered for a minute, then shrugged, handing Ed a bowl and filling his own. _

"_Yea. We're okay."_

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Waking up the next morning was a challenge. Kakashi was nudging my side with one foot, reading his book and calling for the others to get up over his shoulder. I groaned, rolling over and burying my face in my jacket, conveniently bundled up in pillow form.

"Five more minutes, mommy…" I grumbled, swatting at his ankle when the prodding only continued.

"Not your mother." Kakashi argued cheerfully, placing the offending foot on my back and rocking me back and forth with it.

"Hate you so much, evil ninja mommy." I groaned, rolling over.

"Wake up, Danny-onee-chan! Someone's here to see you!" Iruka prodded, kneeling next to my head and tugging at my arm. That jolted me into motion, sitting up so quickly that I had to bury my head between my knees with another groan, as the world spun all around me.

"Too fast…way too fast." I mumbled, tugging at my hair.

As soon as the world stayed put, I tugged myself up, using Kakashi's vest as a handhold. He didn't budge an inch, and I was torn between being angry at him for being so strong, and just appreciating that he wasn't like any of my guys friends back home, who would have joked about me weighing a ton. It was too early in the morning to decide which one to go with, so I just leaned into him, eyes closed, half asleep on my feet.

"Baka trainer, the BWSD people are here, wake up already!" Ed called from somewhere across the clearing.

"Oh!" I startled upright, wincing as joints popped and ached in protest. A Kagome sat on a downed log, across the remains of the fire from me, watching with a small smile on her face.

"Are you okay?" She asked, rising from the log with one hand already reaching for me.

"Fine, yea…just sore. Nothing to be done but walk it off." I replied, waving off her concern with a small smile of my own.

"Demoonica, she's awake!" Kagome called out.

A young woman rushed through the trees, a Sasuke and a Riku close on her heels.

"Sorry, sorry. Zander didn't want to hang up, Damia was up all night…" She smiled, pushing her glasses back up her nose and straightening the hem of her red and white jacket. I shrugged back into my own jacket, conscious of the impression I made on people with my tattoos.

"Neat tattoos." She commented, as if she could read my mind, and I smiled in gratitude, zipping the jacket up and stepping forward to offer a handshake.

"Thank you. I'm Danny."

"Demoonica Darkmoon. Sorry for the early start. The representative who was supposed to meet you today from the local BWSD got caught up when the new terrain expansion took place, and I was already in the area. This is Kagome, Sasuke, and Riku." She pointed to each of her bishis in turn, swiping at her long brown hair when it slid over her shoulder as she spun to the two bishounen behind her.

"It's no problem…I…wait a minute. It's morning?"

Demoonica nodded, pointing to the watery dawn light cresting the trees at the edge of our little clearing.

"Hatake Kakashi, you were supposed to wake me for my turn at watch!" I shouted, spinning on my heel to glare at said bishounen, who never took his eye off his book.

"Relax, Onee-chan. The scarecrow and I had it covered. Besides, you wouldn't wake up. Hit me in the head for my efforts." Ed said, sitting up from his own bedroll and rubbing at his eyes.

"You two…" I groaned, tugging at my hair again, "Well, that's Ed, that's Kakashi, and this little guy is Iruka." I pointed out my own bishounen, leaving Iruka for last, and keeping an eye on her bishis. They all tensed at the introduction of the chibi, but Demoonica waved them off.

"You guys, relax. Remember, her bio said she had a chibi with the parents consent." That did little to ease their minds, but nobody commented.

"Thank you." I said again, resting one hand on Iruka's head when he stepped up next to me and wrapped his arms around my thigh, half hiding behind me.

"Oh, don't get me wrong…we still want to make sure the little guy is okay. Having a chibi is a big responsibility. Just be glad that most of the rest of the group is off investigating the battle site." She smiled at Iruka as she spoke, crouching down on eye level with him and holding out one hand.

"The rest of the group?" I echoed, gently nudging Iruka forward.

"Yea. I've got Kagome, Sasuke, and Riku, obviously… Then there's Kagome's Inuyasha, and their Yasha-san. There's also Allen Schezar, Marou, Kai Hiwatari, Rei Kon, Katan, Rei Enna, Hiead Gner, Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, Kamui Shiro, Yami no Bakura, Tala, Edward Elric, Yamatto & Tsunomon, Wolfram, Raine Sage, Junia, Hakudoushi, Dilandau, Yami no Yugi, Makenshi, Yugi Mouto, Sasuke Uchiha, Squall, Chrono, Hiei, and Malik." She listed the names off distractedly, taking Iruka's hand as he stepped up shyly.

"Oh…holy…" I leaned against Kakashi, eyeing my boys and trying to calculate how much more trouble there would be if I had that many bishounen.

Demoonica caught my aborted swoon out of the corner of her eye and laughed, hugging Iruka before passing him off to Kagome to be mothered with breakfast that had appeared as if by magic. "I've been here over two years, I didn't wind up with all of them at once. And it's not as hectic as it sounds." Her Sasuke snorted at that, and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, so it can be kind of hectic sometimes. Some of them are best of friends, others can't stand one another, but all in all it works out."

"Wow." I couldn't manage much more than that at this point, still stuck on the massive number of bishis that had been listed without pause.

"Breath, Danny-san." Kakashi nudged me with his elbow, taking the bowl of whatever it was Kagome had prepared for us and waving it under my nose. The smell of food jumpstarted my brain back into real time, and I snatched the bowl up with a 'gimme gimme'. Oatmeal with honey and strawberries. Not French toast or bacon, but still pretty good.

Demoonica sat down on the ground accepting her own bowl with a grin. "Sorry, Kagome likes to take care of everyone, and you weren't up yet."

"Ish ah good." I protested around a mouthful.

Breakfast was a silent affair after that, each of us lost in our own thoughts as we demolished the food given to us.

Once bowls had been licked clean and set aside to be washed, Demoonica stood, dusting herself off and pulling out her Dex.

"Time to get the formalities out of the way. I'm going to record your statement, is that okay?" I nodded, rising to my own feet and lifting Iruka up onto my hip when he tugged at my jacket.

She walked me through the previous day's encounter step by step, occasionally looking to Kakashi and Ed for confirmation. The frown on her face got deeper with every word, and by the end of it, Kagome had come forward to place a hand protectively on Iruka's back, while Riku and Sasuke glowered, fists clenched at their sides.

"That was quick thinking on everyone's part." Demoonica said quietly, shutting her Dex and stuffing it in a jacket pocket for the moment.

"Wasn't really thinking. Kakashi can agree with that." I admitted, resting my chin on top of Iruka's head.

"You got out of the line of danger, that's what matters." She argued, ignoring her Dex when it started to beep.

"We ran because it was the safest choice of action." I agreed, and nodded towards her pocket, "You gonna get that?"

When the beeping stopped, only to start up again a moment later, she let out an exasperated sigh, smiling and holding up a finger in the universal sign of just a minute.

"Hi Zander. Hang on a minute." She walked off into the tree line with her Dex held open in front of her, a man who looked startlingly like a Duo filling the small vid screen. Riku stayed with us, but Sasuke trailed after his trainer.

Kagome didn't offer an explanation, and I didn't ask for one. We both just continued to cuddle with the chibi on my hip, who seemed unable to decide if he liked the attention or not.

When Demoonica returned, she smiled at the sight, shaking her head. "Zander is bringing Damia and meeting us out here. I don't know if it's more he's worried for my safety, or because Damia is crying again. Poor guy is going crazy. If it's the worried for our safety bit, I'll have to hurt him for dragging Damia out though."

"Damia?" I asked, she'd mentioned those two before, but they weren't familiar names to me.

"Mine and Zander's daughter. Listen, I'm going to go track the rest of the group down and take a look for myself at the battle site. If you're going to be around the rest of the day, we can all camp together, since I've got to wait for the family to show up now. " She offered, stuffing her hands in her pockets and rocking back on her heels.

"I might explore the area a bit, you said the world was just updated?"

"Yea, the Tolkien area had to expand for the new Hobbit movies that just started coming out back home." She explained, after checking her Dex.

"The Hobbit?" I squealed, excitement bubbling up at the mention of being anywhere remotely close to anything or anyone Tolkien related.

"Yea, says here the first of three movies was released a little while ago, and so there's a bunch of new bishounen in the area." I looked at my own Dex, curious as to how she was finding out all this information, but she just shook her head. "Your map will update, but my Dex was upgraded when I joined the BWSD, that's where I'm getting most of my information from."

"Gotcha. Well, I'll definitely be sticking around for a while then. Do you wanna just buzz me when you're heading back to camp? I'd love to share a camp site with you for the night!" I grinned, already puttering around packing up what little we'd drug out the night before.

"Sure. We'll swap Dex numbers and hook back up round sunset?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Once Dex numbers had been successfully swapped, we headed off in opposite directions.

"Call me if you run into any trouble!" Demoonica called back over her shoulder, just out of sight beyond the trees.

"Can do!" I shouted, hitching my pack up higher on my back and plowing through the underbrush with my boys at my sides.

Today was already starting to look up, and the sun was only just up!

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

Bishi-dex

Kagome Higurashi – an InuYasha bishoujo, she is fully human, gifted with the spiritual powers of a priestess. In her youth, she can be brash and loud, depending on the people she's with. InuYashas tend to provoke her during her younger stages, but she mellows out and becomes very motherly and protective of her family, including her trainer, as she gains experience.

Sasuke Uchiha – a Naruto bishounen, this Shinobi type has a dark past and can be considered difficult to train for inexperienced trainers. He will provoke Naruto bishounen, and any others he feels are beneath him skill wise. Once he bonds with his trainer, however, he will become protective of them against all others. This will sometimes include the trainers other bishounen, if they appear weak or untrustworthy to the Sasuke.

Riku – a Kingdom Hearts bishounen, he is a calm, collected bishounen, but can show streaks of competitiveness or jealousy if he feels he is being replaced by someone else. Rikus wield weapons called 'Keyblades', but depending on their experiences, can also summon creatures called 'Heartless', and created 'Anti-forms'

_3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3e3_

A/N

Well, it only took me five months to update this time. ::bows in apology:: I have zero good excuses this time around, I was just stuck on where to go from the last chapter. Thankfully, Lady Demoonica Darkmoon allowed me the use of her trainer (whom I hope I've portrayed correctly!) and I finally got back on track!

Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews, they really do make writing this a lot easier when I get stuck or write myself into a corner!

As always, if you want to have a trainer appear in the story, feel free to send me a bio! Give me the trainer's name, age, appearance, personality, how long they've been in the bishi world, what bishi they have, what stage the bishi is, and how the bishis interact with you and each other.

Reviews are always appreciated and squee'd over fondly!

Ja ne!

Tsunami


End file.
